Ice Age 6: The Eye of The Storm
by ninjagogirl luvs iceage21
Summary: It's been almost a year since the asteroid almost hit Earth. The herd has been living a normal life. Peaches and Julian return from their travels and Granny and Teddy have been living in the village. Diego and Shira are expecting a cub or cubs and Sid and Brooke have been discussing about having children. When a storm hits, four humans help the herd cease the storms worst to come.
1. Introduction

ICE AGE 6: THE EYE OF THE STORM

PROLOGUE

WHAT CAUSES THE CATASTROPHE?

 **HEY, GUYS.**

 **NGLIC12 HERE!**

 **HERE IS A NEW STORY THAT IS BASED AFTER COLLISION COURSE.**

 **VOICES FOR NEW CHARACTERS ARE BEING ADDED AS WE SPEAK.**

 **VINCENT TONG AS ROSHAN**

 **VICTORIA JUSTICE AS CHERIL**

 **KIRBY MORROW AS KAI**

 **BETTY WHITE AS ELPHINA**

 **WELL, HERE YOU GO. ENJOY THE STORY.**

A strong wind blows upon the island. Not the island of Switchback Cove, but another island hundreds of miles away. Who else could you find there but our favorite saber-tooth squirrel Scrat. He was wandering around looking for a place to hide his nut. Scurrying all around until he found the right spot, he made an X mark the spot in the ground and smashed his nut in the ground. A hole was made and a crack formed into the island all across it, causing it to break in half. Scrat screamed when his nut was floating away on a piece of land. Half the island floated away and sunk to the bottom of the sea.

The day was already steaming so the island was burning up as if it had a fever. When the island sunk, it caused the water to become warm. The clouds were already gray and condensed with water, which caused it to create increasingly strong winds and a heavy downpour of rain, along with thunder and lighting. The storm was starting to make it's way as slowly as possible and was making it's way towards two giant iceberg ships.

Scrat's eyes widened, but he cracked a smile acting as if nothing happened and started chasing after his nut. When he saw that it had disappeared in the storm, he screamed as loud as he always does when his nut leaves him.

 **A FEW HOURS LATER:**

It was gone and over with just like that. All was lost. There were no survivors except for four. Two young men, a young woman and an elderly lady. These four were a part of a human tribe on their way towards a new home when the storm of a lifetime appeared out of nowhere. Now it was headed in a different direction, but these four would be the ultimate saviors. How? They knew how to stop the storm from taking a till for the worse.

 **A FEW HOURS BEFORE:**

Sunset would arrive in a few hours. The ships were blowing gently in the wind. Men were standing near the bow, keeping an eye out for land. Women were preparing for the evening dinner. Children were happily playing inside, staying away from the edge of the ship. These humans have been travelling upon the seven seas for about two weeks now. Everyone was desperate to arrive at their new home. Even the leader of the tribe was eager to step off the boat and find land.

Magstan, the tribe's leader, stared out at the sea, smiling to know that land would be close. It would be sunset in a couple of hours, but it would also be a day of celebration. It was was the day of his son's sixteenth birthday. The moment where his trainings into manhood would be complete. He had everyone gather around, getting ready for his speech that would kick off the festival.

"My tribe, today is a day of celebration," Magstan announced, "Today was is the day of my son's birth. He had come of age where a man is no longer a boy. I have been awaiting this day myself for so long. So now it is time to present the arrival of a man. Come out, Roshan!" Warrior tribe cheers could be heard throughout the boat. Everyone waited, but Roshan, the son of the chief, was nowhere to in sight. Magstan sighed. "Where is my son?"

Inside of a small cave that was taken with the ice ship, a young man with shaggy jet black hair wearing saber cloth clothing and a pair of wooden moccasins was drawing various creatures on the walls. He looked at his work and smiled. His history was once again drawn on cave. This boy happens to be Roshan. He was trying to forget about the celebration that was going on outside. He knew that it was for him, but he had already discussed with this father that he didn't want a feast, whether he was turning into a man or not. He sighed, hearing the cheers outside as everyone waited for him to come out and present himself, but he wouldn't. His wish was to be left alone on his birthday.

Footsteps could be heard outside the cave. Roshan sighed as he knew who it was. "I know it's you, Kai. You don't have to sneak up on me."

A groan could be heard as a boy the same age as Roshan walked inside the cave. He had light black hair that almost touched his shoulders. He had a five o` clock shadow that started to show a bit. He was wearing a long scarf of light brown fur around his neck that went towards his thighs. He wore no shirt, but he did wear a pair of dark brown pants that were slightly torn. His eyes explained it all. He was pretty much a bad boy if need be. This boy had to be Kai.

"I thought it was worth a try," Kai said, walking up to his friend, "What are you doing in here? The feast is gonna start at sunset."

"I already told my dad that I didn't want a feast," Roshan said, "Besides, I have other things on my mind right now. It's best for you to go out there and tell everyone to call it off."

"Not gonna happen. The elders have said that it's bad juju to diss a birthday feast, especially if it's being thrown for you. Your the chief's son."

"Am I?" Roshan was only testing Kai. He knew a lot of people cared about him, but deep down, he's kept a secret that nobody knows about. He looked back at the cave drawings, feeling the one's with the mammoth, saber and sloth. Oh, how he missed them.

"Come on. Don't bail out on your own party. Elphina wants to see you after your father introduces you to everyone. You need to be painted the colors of manhood."

Roshan sighed, having no choice but to give in. "Fine, but I'm only doing it to shut you up."

Kai shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Whatever."

When Roshan finally walked outside, Magstan smiled. "My son Roshan has arrived!" Everyone cheered. Roshan only waved. He wasn't fond of being the center of attention. When he made his way to his father, Magstan placed a hand on his son's shoulder, looking into his green eyes. "Every time I look into your eyes, it reminds me of your mother. You're the only part of her that I have left."

"I know, Father," Roshan said, "You've told me a million times."

Magstan sighed and looked towards the crowd. "The feast will begin in an hour. Roshan will be inside the Tent of the Elders to prepare." He led his son through the crowd and took him inside the tent, where an older woman was waiting for him.

This woman's name was Elphina. She was close to eighty-five years of age and the only woman elder of the tribe. She was known as wise and basically the only doctor the tribe had. Her hair was long and gray and she wore a ran colored fur dress that went down to her ankles. Her feet were bare at the moment while she sat criss-crossed on the ground and was preparing the warrior paint for the Face of Manhood.

Magstan left the tent to tend to other needs. Elphina smiled, looking up at Roshan. "Well, hello, birthday boy. Or should I say birthday man. Today your manhood finally begins. A feast shall be in your honor, traditional dances shall be performed for you, and a gift shall be passed down to you. From chief father to chief son. But you can't do all that unless you look like a man." She started feeling around in his hair. "Hmmm, you hair could use a bit of combing. Where is that comb?"

A young girl walked inside the tent with a bowl in her hands. Roshan looked in her direction, staring at her like he normally does. He knew who she was. It was Cheril, a member of the tribe who did not officially join until she was six. She lost her old tribe during a flood and was the only survivor. She states that a saber saved her life and lead her to Elphina, who immediately took Cheril in and gave her a home. Even the old woman could tell a person that young Cheril was saved by a saber, but they would all believe her to be crazy. She was known as the green prettiest girl in the tribe with her long jet black hair that was pulled up in the back and some of it was let down, revealing to touch a couple of inches past her shoulders. She wore no makeup on her face, but it looked as though she did. Her lips were a bright pink. Her body was a bit slim, but had a bit more meat onto it than other girls. She wore a red fur top that stopped at the top of the mahogany colored skirt that went a couple of inches past her knees. She wore a pair of flat wooden shoes that were painted red and inside of them were soft, comfortable fur padding along with a bit of hay to make them feel wonderfully on her small feet that looked to be only a size four or five.

Cheril smiled at Roshan when she walked past him, making her way over to Elphina. "I hope these berries are enough to make the jam. We're starting to run low, so I could only use a certain amount."

"That will be just fine," Elphina said, "I don't have a lot of sugar, anyway. If only we could've waited until after your birthday, Roshan. We would still have enough food. Unfortunately, your father has to be stubborn."

"He's not that stubborn," Roshan said, but decided against that statement. "Okay, he is a bit stubborn."

"I was hoping you think the same thing."

Cheril giggled. "Well, I'll leave you to it, Elphina." She looked towards Roshan. "Happy birthday, Roshan." She walked out of the tent.

Elphina smiled, placing the paint upon Roshan's face. "Now this feast is very important, Roshan. In a couple of years, you will become leader of the tribe. It's very important that you know the importance of leadership. Very important, indeed. The elders are always watching. They know exactly what you do. Be careful about things that you say, especially promises. Once you make one, you cannot break it. In order to please the Elders, you must respect them and follow all the laws."

"Elphina, what will happen to my father when I am chosen as leader?" Roshan asked.

"He will join as Elder Leader, my boy. What he does now makes all the difference. Hopefully, he won't break the promise that he made years ago. When you were saved by that mammoth and sloth, he vowed to never hunt either mammal. I wish he would do the same thing with sabers. Not all of them are bad."

"Why do you say that?"

The sound of drums could be heard. Elphina had put the finishing touch of paint upon Roshan's face. "There, now you're ready. Now go, my boy. The journey to manhood begins."

Roshan made his way outside, walking over to his father, who had a smile on his face. The feast soon began and afterwards there was dancing and music sounding upon the boat. Roshan was sitting in the ice chair that a few of the carving men had made for him to sit upon and watch the dancing. He was enjoying it all. He say there thinking of why he didn't want to be a part of the wonderful festivities.

Kai walked over to him. "You know, if you want, you can join in the dance. I think Cheril would enjoy having a dance partner."

"Thanks, but I'm fine where I am right now," Roshan said, "Besides, I'm not much of a dancer."

"You don't have to be. Just go out there and have a good time."

"Don't go making him do something he doesn't want to do, Kai,' said Cheril, walking up towards them, "I'm not much of a dancer, either."

Roshan blushed a bit before trying his best to make the heat on his face disappear before staring back at Cheril. For some reason, her blue eyes seem to hypnotize him. "Hey, Cheril. How have you been?"

"I've been good. You just saw me a couple of hours ago."

"I know, but...sometimes a couple of hours can...seem like a long time."

Cheril smiled. "Well, thanks for asking. So are you enjoying your feast?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you didn't want to come at all before since you were inside that little cave again drawing pictures like you normally do," Kai said.

"What's wrong with doing that?" Cheril asked.

"Nothing as long as they're not imaginary creatures that you believe you're friends with. For example, Roshan here thinks that he's friends with a mammoth, a sloth and a saber that are just made up names and all other things in his ear little world."

"They're not made up," Roshan said, "They're real. I wish I could prove that to you, but I can't. They're not here. I promise you that they're real. They promise that they wouldn't forget about me and I haven't forgotten about them." Roshan sighed, turning away as he placed his hand on his arm. "At least I hope they haven't forgotten about me."

"Oh, Roshan, your father is coming," Cheril said.

Roshan gasped as he placed himself in warrior position and made eye contact with his father. "Hello, Dad. What are you doing here?"

Magstan walked up to his son. "I have come to give you the traditional gift of the chief." He placed a cloth wrapped gift to Roshan, who removed it to the a spear made by the elders themselves. They had made sure the spear was a rough wood with a sharp arrow end in order to make the perfect kill. "I hope you shall use it well, my son. By the time we leave this boat, you will lead the hunters out on your first kill as a true man. This will prove your duty of leadership. You will have to hunt the largest creature on Earth. The mammoth."

"The mammoth? Dad, are you crazy?"

"I beg your pardon."

"You can't break a law that you made. You made a law staring that we are to no longer hunt mammoths and your breaking your own law. Bad juju will come upon all of us if you don't change your mind right now."

"Who says I have to?"

"The Elders!"

"Do not raise your voice at me!"

"What is going on?" Cheril asked.

"My father is breaking his own law," Roshan said.

"What law?"

"Let me guess," Kai said, "The one about how we should never hunt mammoths."

"Exactly," Roshan said.

"Magstan, remove the deed that you have brought upon us," Elphina said, wobbling her way over to the four, "You know what happens when a chief breaks his own law."

"The law has not even been broken and you are already making it a big deal," Magstan said, "It is tradition. The future chief must hunt a mammoth in return to prove his manhood. Otherwise, he will not become a man."

"Than I refuse," Roshan said.

"You cannot refuse to hunt a mammoth."

"No, Dad. I refuse to become a man."

Magstan's eyes widened as he looked into his son's eyes. Then he gave Roshan a stern look. "Refusal of manhood? What has gotten into you, boy?"

"Nothing unless you wanna take him to Crazyland," Kai said.

Cheril slapped Kai in the back of the head. "Shut up."

"Seriously? Owww!" Kai rubbed the back of his head. "For a girl, you've got some good bones."

"Magstan, please the Elders and change your mind," Elphina said, "I fear bad juju is heading our way. You are putting is all in danger! Danger, I tell you!"

"Shut your mouth, you old bag!" Magstan yelled.

Roshan did the unspeakable and pushed his father down. Everyone looked and gasped. Roshan has anger in his eyes. "Don't ever talk to a woman like that." He took the collar of his father's shirt and brought his face up close to his. "You would never speak to mother like that, would you? I'm sure you wouldn't. Now I want you to stop this nonsense and take back what you said. If you don't, I'll take care of you and I don't mean with words. I mean with pain." He threw his father to the ground. "Real pain!"

"Calm yourself, son."

Roshan balled his hand up into a fist. "Don't tell me to calm down." He was getting ready to punch his father in the face.

Kai pulled Roshan away from his father. "What has gotten into you?"

Roshan looked at his father. His eyes widened with fear when he saw the trouble he's made. He lowered his fist to his sides, tears forming in the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them spill. He shook a bit in fear as he made eye contact with Magstan. "Dad." He held a hand out to help him up. "I...I didn't mean for that to happen. I'm sorry."

Magstan swiped his son's hand away. "Keep away from me." He stood up and walked away.

"Dad, please." Roshan ran behind him.

Magstan looked into Roshan's eyes. "YOU ARE NO LONGER MY SON!" Once Magstan said that, a roar of thunder came across the sea.

The tribe started screaming. Everyone went into hiding, thinking that could save them, but when the rain started pouring down and the strong winds began to blow, nobody was safe. Children started crying, men and women were trying to keep the ship from tipping over. Waves began rising high, causing people to fall overboard. There were screams and shouts. The thunder was rising. The storm was becoming a whirlpool in various places. The ship started breaking apart into pieces.

Roshan wasn't sure how, but somehow he was separated from his father. The only person he could find was Elphina.

"Elphina, where's my father?" Roshan asked.

"How should I know?" Elphina said, "I can't see a blasted thing in this storm. Your father has caused bad juju to come upon us."

"I'm sure he didn't mean any of this."

"You may think so. He should've thought about it before he created the law. Now come on. We must find some more survivors. Who knows where more could be?"

"Roshan!" a voice cried out.

"Who's there?" Roshan asked.

"It's Cheril," Elphina said, "I know that voice anywhere."

"I'm over here," Cheril said. They both looked to see Cheril standing upon a ice block.

Roshan ran over to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm a bit scared to step off this thing."

Roshan held his hand out. "Don't be afraid, Cheril. I'm right here. It's all gonna be okay."

Cheril looked at the chief's son. He was willing to help her and here she was wondering whether to take his hand or not. Finally, she nodded and said, "Okay." She took his hand and jumped off the ice block. "Okay, what do we do?"

"I don't know, but we need to hide away from this storm."

"Hey, guys!" They all heard a male voice from the distance.

Roshan knew that voice. "Kai? Where are you?"

"Over here!" They looked to see Kai lowering an ice anchor into the sea. "Luckily, I came prepared for any type of emergency."

"Where did this come from?" Cheril asked.

"I tied it to the back of the ship before we came out here."

"Well, that's nice to know," Roshan said.

Cracking sounds could be heard from under their feet. Elphina gasped. "More bad juju has arrived. Quick, get on the boat."

They all made their way to the boat. A voice cried out from behind, making Roshan turn around. "Somebody else is still out there." He ran back to see who it was. It turns out his father was walking upon the cracked ship, trying to make his way towards his son. Roshan did the same. "Dad!"

"Son, you need to get out of here," Magstan said, "The ship won't last much longer."

"I'm not leaving you here."

"You know the old saying, son. A captain always goes down with his ship."

"You're a chief. Not a captain of the seas. Don't do this."

"It is time for you to go on your own, Roshan. You cannot rely on me forever. Find any other tribe members and go."

"Father, don't do this. I need you for guidance."

Magstan gave his son a determined, but stern look. "It is time for you to lead. You do not need me anymore. It's not like you ever did."

Roshan stared at his father. A strike of lightning flashed, but that one strike showed how angry the Elders were and struck at Magstan. Gasping in fear, Roshan went to the cave that had all the cave drawings he drew inside and grabbed the pack that he kept in case something like this ever happened. Grabbing it, he ran out and ran inside Elphina and Cheril's tent. He grabbed whatever bags he could find and ran off. He made his way to the boat, trying to jump from ice float to ice float. The others were calling out to him.

"Roshan, hurry!" Cheril shouted.

"Come on!" Kai yelled.

Roshan stopped. There was a long jump between the ice float he was standing on to the boat that his friends were on. With determination, he used the skills that he has and long jumped. He landed on the boat just in time.

"He's alive!" Kai exclaimed.

Roshan started passing out bags to whoever they belonged to. "I was able to grab these before the boat sank."

"Thank you," Cheril said.

"Such a sweetheart you are," Elphina said, "Try not taking so many risks."

Roshan sighed. He looked to see the ship sinking in the ocean. "They're gone. They're all gone."

Cheril placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're still here, though." Roshan nodded and smiled, knowing that was a good thing.

Kai looked around, seeing nothing but ocean. "Well, what's the plan?"

"We sail until we find land, I guess," Roshan said.

"Let us be thankful that the Elders kept us alive," Elphina said, "We are the only one's that refused to disobey the law. Just remember this one thing. The Elders are always watching us."

They all looked to where the ice ship used to be. Let's just hope the four remaining humans can find land and survive in the world where a person never knows what's going to happen.

* * *

 **THE START OF MY BRAND NEW STORY, EVERYONE. DID YOU ENJOY IT? IF YOU DID, LET ME KNOW.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	2. Girl's Day Out

CHAPTER 1

GIRL'S DAY OUT

 **THE NEXT DAY: SWITCHBACK COVE. TIME: MORNING**

It was a normal morning for everyone in Swichback Cove. People were out and about on a busy Saturday morning. The entire village was beginning to look like the future, except everything was made out of wood, leaves, rocks, so on and so forth. There was now a shopping center that was built not too long ago and became the one place where everyone wanted to go. Kids could play in the playground area, parents could shop in peace, and teenagers found it to be a place where they could escape their parents. Things were not so normal as the years go by in the Ice Age.

At that moment, three little aardvark children were running around the place, chasing after a snowball that were flying out of the snow pit. Children weren't supposed to be out and about unless they were being watched in the play area or if they had an adult with them. These kids seem to have a mind of their own. They had one that took their imaginations so far and beyond. They even stopped chasing after the snowball and started chasing each other.

"I'm gonna catch you!" the reddish aardvark said.

"Not if I catch you first!" said the tannish aardvark.

"Wait up, guys!" said the brownish aardvark, "You guys know I'm not that fast."

They were running so fast that they ended up slipping on some icy ground. "Whoa!" They started sliding throughout the shopping center. They saw that they were heading towards a female saber. They tried stopping, but their little trunks were too small to do anything. They finally shouted out to help the mammal they were about to hit. "Watch out!"

Before they could slam into her, a silver white paw stopped them from sliding any farther than they were supposed to. A giggled could be heard. The three aardvark children looked up to see it was Shira. She smiled down at them. "I gotcha."

They all gasped. "Mrs. Shira!" They huddled together.

"There's no reason to be scared of me."

"Please don't eat us," the little aardvark girl said, "We didn't mean to bump into you."

"That's okay," Shira said, "No harm done."

"There you kids are," a female aardvark, who happened to be the children's mother, said, "I've been looking all over for you three. I went back over to the play area and saw you all weren't there. Thank you so much for making sure they didn't wander off anymore than they already have, Shira."

"Anytime."

"Now apologize to Mrs. Shira, kids."

"We're sorry," the kids said.

"You're forgiven," Shira said.

"How have you been feeling, dear?" the female aardvark asked.

Shira sat down, running what looked to be her pregnant belly. "I've been good. I'm just ready for these little guys to come out." She groaned.

"Well, you only have about a week or two left, dear."

"There's a baby in there?" one of the little aardvark boys asked.

"There sure is," Shira said, "Although I think there's more than one."

"Can we feel your tummy?" the little girl asked.

"Okay, kids, I think it's time we stop bothering Shira," their mother said, facing the female saber, "You take it easy, dearie. Bye-bye, now."

"Mommy, can we go to the toy store?" one of the boys asked.

"We can go later, dear. Right now, we need to find a mirror for your room."

"Okay."

Shira chuckled, looking down at her stomach. "Kids these days. I guess you'll be a part of that generation, huh?" She sighed peacefully. "Well, better catch up with Ellie and the others. Don't wanna keep them waiting."

Over at the food court, Ellie was sitting at a table waiting for Brooke and Shira. Brooke had already said she would be late, but Ellie was wondering why Shira hadn't arrived yet. She finally saw the female saber walking over towards the food court and waved her trunk up in the air. "Shira! Hey, Shira! Over here!"

Shira smiled as she walked over to her mammoth friend. "Hey, Ellie. Sorry I'm a bit late. You know how it is when your pregnancy expands."

"That's okay. So how have you been? It's been awhile since we've had any girl time."

"I know. I've been good, but I've also been tired." Shira groaned, sitting down. "I am so ready for these little guys to come out. I think I've been pregnant long enough."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. It's only a matter of time before they're right in your arms. Don't rush these things. Enjoy being an expectant mother while you still can. It seems to bring you a lot of attention."

"That's because others know good and well not to mess with a pregnant saber's mood swings. Oh, and never mess with her cravings, either. Don't even make fun of what they eat. Which reminds me." Shira whistled and a hyrax appeared. "I'll take anything that has pickles in it." Chirping happily, the hyrax left to fill in the order.

Ellie looked at Shira. "What are pickles, anyway?"

"They're supposed to be cucumbers soaked in vinegar juice. Don't ask me what vinegar is. I don't know."

Singing could be heard from across the shopping center. Ellie and Shira looked to see Brooke skipping her way over to them. "Hello, ladies. Sorry I'm late. I had a run-in with an old friend of mine."

"Who?" Ellie asked, "Shangri Llama?"

Brooke nodded. "Yes, indeed. Let's go with that. I was having a conversation with him in my mind. That's what meditation is all about. Conversing with old friends by using your brain."

"Brooke, sometimes I don't get you," Shira said.

"I don't even get myself sometimes, but you get what I mean." She whistled to a hyrax, who scurried up to the table. "Mango smoothie, please." The hyrax nodded and scurried off.

"Hey, do either of you know where Diego went? He's been gone since this morning."

"I really don't know. I haven't seen Sid this morning at all."

"Manny said he left to get a few things done and wouldn't be back until this evening," Ellie said, "I really don't know what's going on." Without warning, a trunk was placed over Ellie's eyes. Make that two trunks. "Uh, what's going on? Did somebody turn out the lights?"

"Guess who?" two different voices asked.

"Wait a second. Is that who I think it is?" Ellie gasped. "Is it Peaches and Julian?"

"Yes!" Peaches exclaimed.

"Most def!" Julian said.

"Oh, my goodness!" Ellie shouted with excitement, hugging her daughter and son-in-law, "I'm so happy to see you two again!"

"Same here, Mom," Peaches said.

"Missed you a lot," Julian said.

"Awww, what a wonderful happy reunion this turned out to be," Brooke said.

"Wait, you knew they were here the whole time?" Shira asked.

"Of course. Did you really think I could talk to Shangri Llama in my mind?"

"Honestly, yes, I did. I never know what hippies are capable of."

The three mammoths parted ways as Ellie smiled. "I don't believe it. Why are you two back so early? Didn't you guys want to roam around for a while?"

"Well, we actually came back to visit you guys," Peaches said, "Travelling around is great and all, but we thought it would be nice to spend some time here at home. Plus, Shira's about to bring in some new herd members. How have you been doing?"

"I've been doing good," Shira said, "Just tired is all. And wishing these little guys would finally come out."

"Yeah, but nonetheless, you still look awesome," Julian said, "I can't really tell what's changed."

"Believe me, I think you can."

"So where are Dad and the others?" Peaches asked.

"They're all busy with something right now, but we'll see them soon," Ellie said, "Why don't you guys have a seat and chat with us for a while?"

"Sounds great."

"Awesome!" Julian said.

"I wonder what's so important that's put all our husbands in working mode," Shira said.

 **THAT SAME DAY IN SWITCHBACK COVE.**

 **TIME: AFTERNOON**

That afternoon, the males of the herd were setting everything up for a surprise that they were planning for Shira. Decorations, food and everything else were all set up. Manny and the male dino birds, Gavin and his son Roger, were putting up the banner, Diego was placing color on everything with flowers, Crash and Eddie were filling leaves up with air, and Sid was setting the tables. He was actually the one who thought up of the idea that Diego should throw a party for Shira as these would be some of her last moments as an expectant mother.

Diego walked over to a tree, placing flowers on the branches. "What is this called again, Sid?"

"It's called a baby shower, Diego," Sid said, "It's a tradition I just invented when the husband and his friends and close family come together to throw his wife a party to celebrate her arrival into motherhood. Well, it's also for you since you're about to become a father, but you get what I'm saying."

"I hope you're not planning on giving me a bill for all this."

"Nope. Since you're helping out and you made all the plans, I won't charge you a dime."

"Are you kidding me?" Manny said, "Why did you charge me with Peaches' wedding if you're not gonna charge Diego with this whole baby shower thing?"

"Because I was the wedding planner and I planned everything," Sid said.

"Oh, come on."

"Hey, I'm trying to help Diego out. He's the one that'll have to pay the hospital bill after his kids come."

"Actually, Shira and I have been talking about it and we've decided to have the cubs be born at home."

"A home birth?" Manny asked.

"Wait, you can't have a home birth," Sid said, "What if something happens while Shira's in labor? You'll have to go to a hospital."

"That's not my decision to make, Sid," Diego said, "Shira said she feels more comfortable having the cubs surrounded by friends and family. I'm not gonna go against her wishes."

"Well, I am."

"Are you the ones having the kids?"

"No."

"Than stop judging my wife."

"Alright, alright," Manny said, "Hey, Diego, to check on Buck and see how he's doing on that ice sculpture."

"Will do, Manny," Diego said. He walked over behind the leaves and looked to see Buck putting the finishing touches on the ice sculpture that took days to make. It was almost like looking at a statue. It was Diego and Shira with little bundles of joy in the female saber's arms. Diego smiled. "Nice work on the ice sculpture, Buck."

"All in a day's work, mate," Buck said, wiping his head with a leaf, "Do you like it?"

"It's wonderful, Buck. Thanks for doing this."

"Anytime, Diego. Although, I would've gotten done a lot faster if Gertie was here to help."

"Oh, there she is." Diego pointed out in the distance to see Gertie flying towards them.

Buck waved to her. "Gertie! Down here!" The female dino bird didn't land down, but she merely passed Buck and Diego. "Where is she going?"

They started hearing shouts from the other side of the bushes. "Dad, I thought you promised that I could schedule an appointment to go get my claws done."

"You never said anything about that," Gavin said.

"Well, I'm saying something about it now. Read my mind."

"Gertie, for the last time, I can't read minds."

"Do we really have to start up an argument right now?" Roger asked, "We're kind of in the middle of something right now, Gertie."

"Will you please stop putting yourself in our conversations, Roger?" Gertie said, slamming her brother to the ground.

"Gertie, what has gotten into you?" Gavin asked, "Whatever you're going through is starting to get ridiculous."

"You're starting to get ridiculous!"

"That doesn't even make any sense."

"Nothing makes sense anymore! Just leave me alone!"

"You're the one that came all the way out here. Now go back home and sit in your nest and don't come out of it until you calm down."

"Fine!" Gertie started flying away. "Everything's stupid. Everybody's stupid. My nest is even stupid."

Diego and Buck walked over to the male dino birds. Buck was helping Roger up while Diego walked over to Gavin. "Hey, Gavin, what's going on with your daughter?"

"Well, it seems as though her girl instincts have come to her," Gavin said, "I don't know how to deal with it."

"Oh, if only she had a mother figure in her daughter life," Buck said, "I know what it's like raising a daughter when her father has no idea what she's going through. Take it from me. I've raised Bronwyn here and she's already going through her toddler years. She's even taught herself how to roll. I'll show you." He placed his pumpkin daughter on the ground and looked at her. "Come on, sweetie. Roll for daddy." Suddenly, the little pumpkin started rolling. Buck gasped. "Good job, my little boogie woogie. Don't roll too far away now."

Gavin sighed. "I have no idea what else to do. Just yesterday, Gertie asked me if she could wear something called make up and all I did was ask two questions."

"What did you ask?" Diego said.

"First off, what is make up and second of all, why would she wanna wear it for tonight. That's all I said, but unfortunately, she took it the wrong way."

"Just give her some time. I'm sure she'll get over whatever she's going through."

"It makes me feel suspicious, though."

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know. She's never acted like this before. It makes me feel as though she wants to join in on some flying club or a popular bird squad. Whatever it is, I'm gonna get to the bottom of it."

"Well, I'll give you some advice. Don't make her tell you. Sometimes, you just gotta wait until she's ready. That much I know. If you can, you and her can find a place to be alone and maybe she'll tell you. Just give her some time. You get what I'm saying?"

"Every word. You know, I can tell you're gonna be a great father, Diego. Maybe a lot better than me."

"Hey, Dad, do you mind helping me move this log?" Roger asked his father.

"Sure thing, son," Gavin said. He flew up and made his way over to help his son.

Diego didn't notice Manny walking behind him. "Is it looking great so far, buddy?"

Diego screamed. He placed a paw over his beating chest to see it was only Manny. "Oh, it's just you, Manny. Sorry, I didn't hear you from behind me."

"You okay, Diego? You've been a bit out of it lately."

"I'm sorry. It's just...my whole world is about to change. I'm about to be a dad. A new chapter of my life is about to open. I'm happy, but at the same time, I'm extremely terrified."

"Don't worry, Diego. Everything will be fine. Soon you and Shira will have kids and it will change your life. It changed my life. You'll always be there for them matter what. From the moment they're born until they decide to leave and get married, you'll always be by their side. Every moment of their childhood. You'll play with them, go to all their games, shows, or whatever else, celebrate every birthday they'll ever have and all that great stuff. The most important thing is being their when they need it the most. You know, teach them life lessons and help them understand the world better. Teach them from making mistakes. Yeah, they'll make the mistake, but you just have to teach them to never let it happen again. Nobody's perfect. We shouldn't try to make children perfect, but you know what? We can do a good job in raising them. When the time comes and your kids are raised well enough to learn about life and are ready to go on their own, you know you did a good job. It's only the beginning, buddy. Don't worry."

"Thanks, Manny."

"Hey, a friends gotta be there for a friend."

"Hey, guys!" Sid called out, "I could use a little help over here." They were looked to see Sid was hanging upside down the vine rope of the pinata.

Manny sighed. "Let's hope Sid doesn't become a father right after you."

"Why do you say that?" Diego asked.

"He's got a lot to learn."

The mammoth and saber went over to their sloth friend to help him out. After that was done and over with, they continued to put the finishing touches on everything to make the baby shower look wonderful.

* * *

 **OKAY, FANS. I BRING YOU CHAPTER 1 OF THIS AMAZING STORY OF ICE AGE. STILL WORKING ON OTHER STORIES AS WELL, SO THIS ONE IS INCLUDED IN ALL.**

 **WELL, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER. I WAS GONNA POST THIS A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, BUT I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL. BUT HERE IT IS.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	3. Baby Shower

CHAPTER 2

BABY SHOWER

 **SWITCHBACK COVE BEACH.**

 **TIME: EARLY EVENING.**

A small ice float made its way upon land of the sandy shores of Switchback Cove Beach. The float made its way on the sand, no longer near any part of the water. Jumping off of it was a silver gray domesticated wolf dog with a snow white underbelly, who had dark green eyes and a nose as red as a bright cherry. Unlike the other domesticated dogs, this one was one of half of them that could talk to humans and had the name of Scarfy. He began to sneeze. He was stuck in the cold water the entire night with the winds blowing hard in his face before the four remaining humans brought him aboard. Now he's come down with a cold and was trying his best to scout out the area.

Scarfy began coughing. He sighed. "Of all the moments to catch a cold. Why did it have to be now?" He sneezed. This one was loud enough to up the oldest of all the humans sitting upon the ice float.

Elphina gasped, looking at her surroundings. "Everyone, look around you! It's land!"

"Elphina, please stop," Kai said, "You've been saying that ever since we started sailing on this stupid ice float."

"I'm serious. Take a look."

Kai turned his head to see a various amount of land right in front of them. "Land ho! Land ho!"

"What is with all the yelling?" Cheril asked, opening her eyes.

"We have made it on land," Elphina said, standing up with her walking stick supporting her as she began looking around the island, "This is no time to be watching the dog sniff around. Let's investigate. Wake Roshan up."

Cheril looked to see Roshan still sleeping. She gently shook his shoulder. "Roshan, wake up. We've found land."

Roshan opened his eyes. He looked around to see that they weren't floating anymore. He stood up and stretched out his legs. "What's going on?"

"We're here at our new home." Cheril lifted her hand and showed him the place.

"I guess this is the land we were trying to find. I can't say for sure, though. I have no idea what my father was planning."

They all heard a sneeze coming from all around them. They looked to see Scarfy sniffling, using his paw to wipe his nose. "Sorry about that. I figured my nice, warm fur coat would help keep me warm, but it didn't. Now I can smell anything."

"Hopefully, I can find some herbs that can get rid of that cold of yours soon enough," Elphina said, "Roshan, you didn't forget my red bag, did you?"

Roshan removed it from the float. "Never will I let you forget it."

"Oh, thank you, Roshan." Elphina took the bag from him. "Such a good boy. I can't live without it. It has all the necessary medical supplies I need."

"Well, you are pretty much our last hope for a doctor," Cheril said.

"Indeed I am," Elphina said, walking over to Scarfy, "Here. I'll give you some of this." She took out a bluish looking liquid from her bag. "One drop is all you'll need."

"What is that stuff made of?" Scarfy asked.

"I hope you're not planning to poison him, Elphina," Kai said, "He's the only tracker we have."

"Hush, child," Elphina said, "It is nothing more than spring water mixed in with blueberry and blackberry extract with a hint of mint leaves and a few herbal spices. Nothing much to it. Open wide, dear." Scarfy did as he was told and opened his mouth. The elder woman placed a drop in his mouth. Elphina smiled. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No, it wasn't," Scarfy said, "It actually tasted like fruit water."

"That's mainly what it is." Elphina gasped. "Oh, no."

"What's the matter, Elphina?" Cheril asked.

"The Elders are speaking to me. Quiet, everyone. I must listen."

Kai sighed, whispering in Roshan's ear. "I don't get this. She believes she can talk to the elders. I think all of that is just a bunch of baloney."

"Would you just shut up?" Roshan whispered back, "What do you expect from Elphina? She's the only woman elder in the tribe. You expect her not to believe she can speak to them. You're ridiculous."

"Guys, stop being rude," Cheril whispered to the boys.

"You're being rude along with the rest of us," Kai said.

"Silence!" Elphina shouted, "I have received news! Terrible news!"

They all stood and looked at the old woman before Kai spoke up. "And what would it be?"

"The storm that has erupted upon the seas last night is making it's way towards here. On this very island. It is time for us to find shelter, young ones. Grab the supplies and let's go."

"Can we at least grab something to eat on the way?" Cheril asked, "We haven't eaten anything since last night."

"I don't see why we can't," Elphina said, "We'll have to hunt for fruit."

"It's already too late to scout out the area," Roshan said, "We'll have to wait until tomorrow. I should have a spear made by then. Kai, you're hunting by my side, right?"

"Always do," Kai said.

"Let's go," Elphina said, "We don't have all day."

"Technically, we don't have all night. The day is pretty much over with."

"Kai, please," Cheril said.

"I wish I could sniff around for a cave or something, but I can't smell anything," Scarfy said.

"I've got this," Kai said, grabbing onto a vine and climbing into the highest branch of a tree, "Here I go!" He jumped off the branch and started swinging. "Wooooo-hoooooo!" He swung too far on that one vine, so it snapped off the tree, causing him to hit the ground. A thud sound could be heard. A moment later, he shouted out, "I'm okay!" They waited for him to come back. Once he did, he walked up to them and smiled. "I found a cave. Follow me." They all followed his lead.

Roshan stood in that one spot for a second, looking out at the ocean. The storm that his father created was returning and it wasn't going down without a fair fight. He sighed as he turned around and followed his friends. It made him feel like the Elders would come for him now that they had his father.

 **SWITCHBACK COVE TRAIL.**

 **TIME: THE HOUR OF SUNSET.**

Evening was taking a toll on Switchback Cove. Ellie, Shira and Brooke were walking down the trail in search of their husbands. While Ellie and Brooke had smiles on their faces, Shira still had no idea what was going on. She noticed that everything was so quiet and she had no idea why.

"Hey, girls," Shira said, "Have you noticed how quiet it is?"

Ellie grinned. "Hmmmm, now that you've mentioned it, I have noticed."

"So have I," Brooke said, "The birds must not want to sing their lullabies tonight."

Shira was starting to get irritated. "Diego, where are you? This isn't funny. Come on out wherever you are."

Before Shira knew it, Diego popped out of nowhere along with everybody else. "SURPRISE!" The entire village had started gathering around.

Shira had no idea what was going on. "What's going on?"

Diego cued for Sid to let the flowers rain down. Manny and Buck showed the ice sculpture while the male dino birds placed a flower band made with roses on Shira's head. Everybody was cheering and dancing. Diego smiled, nuzzling his wife. "Happy baby shower, babe!"

"Baby shower?" Shira asked.

"Don't ask me. Sid made it up. I just planned everything."

"Do you like it?" Sid asked, "This is a party where we celebrate the expectant mother bringing in new life. Isn't it amazing?"

"I don't believe it," Shira said.

"That's not even the best part," Manny said, "Everybody pitched in and got you gifts for the kids."

"Aw, you guys didn't have to do that."

"Wait, there's more," Diego said.

"What more is there that I should need?" Shira asked.

"Well, I was able to pull a few strings and had a special someone that you know come over to stay with us to spend time with the cubs."

"Who?"

Crash and Eddie pulled the leave curtains back. "Ta-da!" Behind the leaves was an older male saber who had silver colored fur and blue eyes. He smiled when he saw Shira.

The pregnant female saber gasped. "Daddy!"

"Shira!" the older male saber known as Shira's father cried out. The father and daughter nuzzled each other in a hug.

"Oh, Daddy! I'm so glad to see you. You came here to see your grandkids be born?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Shira's father saw Diego walking up to them. "Thanks for helping me get here, sonny." He ruffled Diego's head.

Diego chuckled. "Anytime, Alejandro."

Shira walked up to her husband. "I can't believe it. You did all of this for me?"

"Of course I did," Diego said, "I did it because I love you. Plus, you deserve a party every once in awhile."

Shira was in the verge of tears, but they were with happiness. She nuzzled Diego. "Thank you."

Mammals of all kind were enjoying the party. Sid and Brooke had went up to grab some grub and walked over to sit at a table near a spot where the kids were playing at.

Brooke sighed. "I can only imagine our children being in a part of those games. I bet they would be the best of the bunch."

"Yeah, they would," Sid said. He sighed at the thought of having kids.

"What's the matter, Sid?"

"Ah, Brooke, I don't think I'm ready to have kids just yet."

"What are you talking about? I'm sure you've been planning it even before we met."

"Yeah, and even before then, I either end up having them taken away from me or I lose them. I just don't think I'm ready. Don't get me wrong, honey. I love kids more than anything and I want us to have some of our own, but I'm just not ready for that kind of responsibility."

"Well, turn that frown upside down, Sid. I have a wonderful idea that I think you might agree to."

"What's that?"

"Finding someone that will show you how to do it. I think I may know the best person. Let's go talk to them."

Before they went anywhere, they saw Granny pass by them, but there was something different about her. She didn't have her funky afro hairdo and she didn't look quite so young. She looked exactly like her old self. An older woman walking with her cane that she enjoyed hitting people over the head with. She looked up and saw the two sloths. "Hello, you two. Isn't it a wonderful night for a party?"

They looked to see Teddy running up after her. "Gladys, wait."

"Teddy, what happened to Granny?" Sid asked, "Why isn't she young anymore?"

"I don't understand it, either," Brooke said.

"My theory is that the youth water she was in didn't have an affect in her or something," Teddy explained, "I guess it only works on some people."

"Oh, dear," Brooke said.

"I guess we'll have to warn the others," Sid said.

Meanwhile, Crash and Eddie were sticking grapes into each others mouths. When they couldn't hold anymore, both spit them out at one another, knocking them both out. Behind them, Manny and Ellie were talking about how the day turned out.

"Manny, you are not gonna believe who the girls and I saw today," Ellie said.

"You sound pretty excited about it," Manny said, "Are your folks in town?"

"No, it someone else."

Before Manny could guess again, his whole vision became plagued with darkness. "Hey, who turned out the lights?"

"Guess who?" two voices said.

"Wait a second," Manny said, "I recognize those voices."

"It's us!" Peaches and Julian exclaimed, hugging Manny.

"Hey, Bro Dad!" Julian exclaimed.

"Bro Kid!" Manny said, "Peaches! So good to see you guys!"

"I've missed you, Dad," Peaches said.

"I've missed you, too, sweetheart." The three came apart from the hug. "Aren't you guys still on your trip?"

"We are. We just came back to see how you guys were doing. Plus, we really don't wanna miss Diego and Shira's last moments before the cubs come."

"Plus, we can't wait to see them," Julian said, "I hear that saber cubs are the most cutest little babies. They're just so small and adorable. I actually just made friends with this guy that's a saber and he's actually now a father. Their cubs are like three weeks old now."

"Awww," Ellie said, "Well, when you see them again, tell them we said congratulations."

"We will," Peaches said.

"So tell us about your trip so far, you two," Manny said.

The four mammoths went over and sat down at one of the tables. The young mammoth couple began telling them their story.

Back over with the sabers, Shira and Diego were sitting across from her father, who was pleased to see them both.

"I'm really glad you're here, Daddy," Shira said.

"As am I," Alejandro said, "I cannot wait to become a grandfather. I do have some news, though. I have decided to live closer to the two of you so I won't have to live so far away from my grandchildren."

"That sounds great."

"Well, I have nothing against that," Diego said, "You are family, after all."

"So who will be the doctor that delivers the cubs?"

"There's not gonna be a doctor," Shira said, "We've decided to have a home birth."

Alejandro spit out his water, making it splash all over Diego. "What?! That is not a good idea." He looked at his son-in-law. "You are going along with this?"

"It's not my choice," Diego said, "It's Shira's."

"What makes you think you should do this, sweetheart?" Alejandro asked.

"What's so wrong about that?" Shira asked, "I just wanna be in control of the situation. I don't want anyone telling me how to do it."

"What's going on over here?" They all looked to see Manny and Ellie, along with Peaches and Julian, walking up to them.

"Ellie, do you think there's something wrong with having a home birth?"

"I don't see anything wrong with it. I didn't have Peaches at a hospital and I turned out alright."

"Mammoths and sabers are different from each other," Alejandro said, "What if something happens while she's in labor?"

"Nothing is going to happen," Shira said.

"You don't know that."

"Okay, I think it's time we change the subject here,"Diego said, "Why don't we go ahead and open presents?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Manny said. He turned his attention to the crowd. "Hey, everyone, the expectant mother is about to open her gifts." Everybody started making their way to the gift table.

Sid and Brooke were enjoying some juice when the wind began blowing at a maximum rate than before. It started to make the two sloths worried.

"Uh, was there anything in the forecast that stated we would be having strong winds?" Sid asked.

" I don't think so," Brooke said, "Why do you ask?"

"Because I see something out in the distance that doesn't look like it was invited to the party." Sid pointed at a tropical cyclone along with some rain and damaging hail that was heading their way.

Brooke gasped. "We have to warn the others."

"Okay, but first, I have to find Granny and Teddy."

"Alright, I'll warn the others." The sloth couple ran off in different directions.

Meanwhile, Shira was opening up her gifts. The one she was opening came from Manny and Ellie. Inside it was a soft fur blanket. "Oh, it's beautiful. Thank you, Manny and Ellie."

"It's important to always make sure that the kids stay warm at night," Ellie said.

"Has anybody else noticed that the wind's blowing harder than usual?" Manny asked.

Brooke ran up to the herd. "Everyone, we have a problem."

"You're telling me. I think we should continue opening presents inside." Manny started collecting all the gifts. "Come on, everyone. Let's move inside."

"No, Manny, wait. The winds not our only problem."

"Than what is?"

Brooke pointed out in the distance to show the herd that a tropical storm was heading their way.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Diego shouted.

"Out of all the times to have a storm, why does it have to be during a party?" Manny asked.

"Come on," Ellie said, "We have to warn everyone else." They suddenly heard the shouts of the other animals screaming. Ellie chuckled. "I guess they figured it out on their own."

"Come on," Diego said, "We need to take shelter."

They all started running to make their way towards the safety cave. Julian noticed that Manny was still grasping the gifts for Shira. "Hey, Bro Dad, you do realize you're still holding the gifts, right?"

Manny saw this and smiled like an idiot. "Well, you can't let a good present go to waste, now can you?"

"Come on," Ellie said.

Catching up with the herd was Sid and Teddy. The male rabbit was holding Granny in his paws. Diego was surprised to see Granny back to her old self. "What happened to Granny?"

"I'll explain everything later," Teddy said, "Let's go!"

They all finally made it to the safety cave. The moment they hid inside, Manny placed a large wooden tree plank in front of the entrance and held it there with some rocks. Everyone stood together, afraid of what might happen.

Manny looked at everyone. "Well, it looks like another catastrophe has been brought upon us."

"The good news is we're all still together," Sid said.

"What's the bad news?" Diego asked.

"No need to worry about that, mates," Buck said, hopping on top of Julian, "The only bad news is if we die, but that's highly impossible. Besides, it's only a storm. At least I think that's all it is. Oh, well. Hopefully it won't come back to bite us in the butt."

"Well, as long as we're in here, we might as well enjoy Shira open up her presents," Alejandro said.

"Yeah, let's do that," Ellie said.

"It'll help pass the time," Brooke said.

"Alright, gather around, everyone," Shira said.

The herd spent the rest of the evening opening up gifts. When nightfall came, the endure herd went to sleep. Crash and Eddie found a twig to sleep on. The dino birds were sleeping in one corner while the sloths and mammoths slept in the other corner. Diego and Shira, along with Alejandro, slept in the midst of the cave. Buck, on the other hand, didn't sleep a wink. He kept watch because he knew exactly what the future would hold. He only hope there was still enough time.

 **SWITCHBACK COVE BEACH. INSIDE AN EMPTY CAVE.**

 **TIME: NIGHTFALL.**

Inside the cave, the four humans were lying against various parts of the cave. Kai had just finished creating a fire. Elphina was busy making some herbal soup to help Scarfy's cold. Roshan was sharpening the only spear he had. Cheril was busy searching through her pack. She felt something inside that she was familiar with. It was a stuffed saber that was silver white and had black stripes. Elphina had made it for her when she was about six years old, the age where she arrived at the village. Some say the stuff saber she had looked like the saber she was rescued by.

Cheril smiled as she looked at the stuff toy. "Looks like you grabbed the right pack, Roshan."

Elphina chuckled. "One of these days, you're going to have to give that up."

"I know, Elphina, but it's the only thing that will explain help lead me back to the saber that's known to be my savior. My hero."

"One day you will find her. The Elders may watch, but they also listen. They know when you need aid searching for something or someone you've lost."

"I know. I just miss her."

"You're starting to become as crazy as Roshan thinking that an animal saved your life," Kai said.

"At least she was old enough to understand," Roshan said, "Me on the other hand, I know those three mammals saved my life."

"Oh, yeah? What were their names?"

"You expect me to remember that?"

"I don't even remember the name of the saber that saved my life," Cheril said, "It's been so long. I do know that she's a female."

"Well, at least you remember one thing about it," Kai said, "What about you, Roshan? You remember the gender to those mammals? That'll prove your point."

"They were all males," Roshan said.

"I'm not buying it."

"Calm yourselves, young ones," Elphina said, "All your troubles will be solved one day. Just have faith that the Elders will aid you in this journey." She finished preparing Scarfy's meal. "There you are, dear. That should help until you can eat better again."

"Thanks," Scarfy said as he began enjoying his meal.

"Young ones, it is time to rest now. I suggest you all get some sleep. We will scout out the land first thing tomorrow morning once this storm blows over. Goodnight, dears."

"Goodnight, Elphina," Cheril said.

"Night," Roshan said.

"Seriously?" Kai said, "Why are you making us go to bed? I'm not tired. I can swing on every vine out there in the middle of that storm and still not be tired. I'm full of energy."

"Three...two...one," Roshan said. Kai automatically fell asleep. Roshan grinned. "Just what I like to hear. Goodnight, everyone." Roshan closed his eyes.

Cheril was the only one still awake. She was worried about her caretaker. "Is everything alright, Elphina?"

"I don't know, dear, but once I figure it out from the Elders, I promise to tell you all," Elphina explained, "Get some rest, dear."

"Yes, Elphina. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Cheril." Elphina shut her eyes as she began communicating with the Elders with her mind.

* * *

 **HEY, GUYS! WELL, THIS IS CHAPTER TWO. THE HUMANS HAVE MADE IT TO THE ISLAND AND THE BABY SHOWER WAS RUINED BY THE STORM. I WONDER WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

 **WELL, SEE YOU GUYS FOR THE NEXT UPDATE. ENJOY.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	4. This is Just The Beginning

CHAPTER 3

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

 **SWITCHBACK COVE. INSIDE THE SAFETY CAVE.**

 **TIME: SUNRISE**

The Sun was making it's way to the center of the sky. Nobody was outside due to the damage that last night's storm caused. Everyone decided it was best to stay indoors until it all blowed over for good. The only one's that didn't think that was the herd, who walked out of the safety cave and made their way outside. They looked around to see the whole place in a huge mess. One that would take weeks or months to clean up.

Crash and Eddie scurried up in a tree. They let out a scream. "Noooooo!"

"What's wrong?" Manny asked cautiously.

"Our wooden swords are gone!" Crash shouted.

"The wind blew them away!" Eddie cried, "What are we gonna do without them?"

"We'll have to go into combat using only our paws. How will we survive that?"

"Guys, this is no time to be playing games," Manny said, "Right now, we need to start cleaning up this mess."

"Manny, give us a break," Diego said, "The moment it's all over, you wanna get it cleaned up. I think this island is nothing but a place wanting to be sunk down to the bottom of the sea."

"He's actually right, you know," Shira said, "I don't know this place by heart, but I do know that anything is possible on Switchback Cove. Maybe it's best if we start evacuating everyone."

"Evacuating?" Buck popped his head from behind some trees. "Are you busting by buttresses? That is not the way to save everyone. I'm serious this time, though. Something big is going to happen."

"What are you talking about?" Manny asked.

"I'm talking about the storm. This was only the beginning. If you think this place is a mess, think of how bad it will be when the final round comes upon us."

"The final round?" Brooke asked, "Do you mind explaining?"

"Certainly," Buck said, "Every once in awhile, you get a storm that likes to pass by. Most think it's a storm that just naturally happens so they simply ignore it. But when they look upon the sky, they notice that the morning sky is red and the sky at night is purple. If it remains that way for approximately three to five days, you notice the the second round is here. What is that called, you may ask? Well, that is known as...the eye of the storm."

"Funny," Alejandro said, "I was thinking that it would be called something worse like the twister in the hurricane or something like that."

"Daddy, it's not nice to interrupt," Shira said.

"Then comes the final round," Buck said, "That's when the storm comes to it's worse moments. It can become so catastrophic that you might not survive at all. The worst thing imaginable. Trees falling, lightning striking, the light flashing before your very eyes. You may never be the same again. Who knows? You may go from normal to crazy and delusional like me."

"If you haven't notice, we're not normal at all," Sid said.

"He's actually right," Manny said.

"Is there something we can do about this?" Ellie said.

"So far, I don't have a clue," Buck said, "There may be a way to stop this, but we'll just have to think about it. For the time being, we'll need to start getting off this island and everyone else along with it."

"Wait, are you saying there's no way to stop this?" Diego asked.

"Not that I know of. Until I can figure it out, we are leaving this island. No questions or complains about it."

"Wait a second," Shira said, "You said we only had three to five days until this all happens. If we evacuate, we won't know how to stop it."

Buck's eyes widened. "You're quite right. Well, I think it's best to give up then." The one eyed weasel began walking away.

Gavin flew in front of Buck, stopping him from going any further. "Buck, we are not retreating. We didn't come all this way to leave the one place we call home. I know good and well that you have a plan and you know how to stop this. Tell us what it is."

"Come on, Buck," Manny said, "Don't leave us under the tree." Buck then started laughing like an idiot. Manny have him a look. "What's so funny?"

"You guys really felt for it," Buck said as he continued to laugh, "I was just pulling your tails. Of course I have a plan to stop the storm from coming. There's always a way to keep a catastrophic event from coming to its worse calling. The first thing that we have to do is travel to the spot where the eye of the storm is coming from. That way, we'll figure out what we have to do in order to cease the storm from hitting us."

"Whoever heard of a weasel that can stop a storm from placing soon all over us?" Granny asked, "I literally wish plans had a face so I can smack them."

"Okay, do you even know where the eye of the storm is taking place at?" Shira asked.

"Indeed, I do, preggers," Buck said, climbing up one of the trees and scouting out the area. He searched around for a moment before looking back down at the herd. "I know how to spot where it is, but I can't seem to find it."

"Looks like you're gonna need some keen eyes," Gavin said, "Roger, we need some help with sight. It pays to have something from your mother's side of the family."

"How nice of you to say," Roger said, flying up into the tree and placing himself next to Buck, "Okay, what do you need me to do?"

"Scout out the area of the entire island until you see a mixture of red and purple clouds," Buck explained.

"Can do." Roger started looking around. "Okay, all I'm seeing is red in the sky, passersby, a few hyraxes and...oh, found it."

"Where is it?"

"Well, it's actually north of here. It looks like a geyser that would shoot out hot water, but it's actually shooting up clouds. All we have to do is take the trail north. It looks like, according to my calculations, it might take us about a day to get there. Maybe two."

"All you had to say was that you found it," Gertie said.

"Well, I like to make sure everybody understands the information," Roger said, "So do we start traveling now?"

"We sure do," Buck said, hopping back on the ground in front of the herd, "Alright, mammals, time to get moving. We've got an island to save."

"Here we go, everyone," Sid said, "On the trail again for another great adventure to save our home."

"This is going to be so much fun," Brooke said.

"Sweet!" Julian exclaimed.

"The most important thing is that we're all together," Peaches said.

"Well, I suppose I will go along with you all," Alejandro said, "I don't really have anything else to do."

The herd started making their way on the trail. They didn't notice a shadow forming behind them, but it disappeared soon after our heroes began walking away. Not before silently laughing to themselves as it fell back into the shadows. Wonder who that could be? With the herd, anything is possible.

 **SWITCHBACK COVE: INSIDE THE HUMAN'S CAVE.**

 **TIME: MORNING.**

That same morning, the small group of humans and their wolf were still asleep as the relaxation of the morning brought them peace. Elphina continued to meditate as she was finishing up her conversation with the Elders. The soft breeze and the singing of the birds woke the old woman up. She opened her eyes and picked up her walking stick, getting herself up and unblocking the leaves that kept the sunlight from hitting inside the cave. The teenagers all groaned, turning away from the bright light. The only person that actually got up was Scarfy.

"Time to awaken, young ones," Elphina said, "I have just had a long meeting with the Elders. They said there is a way to stop the impending storm from reaching the island."

"What impending storm?" Scarfy asked, "I thought we just had one."

"Ah, it seems as though your cold has healed. How do you feel today?"

"Better than I did yesterday. Thanks to those herbs."

"I shall give you more tonight as long as your sniffer is functional."

"It's still a bit stuffed, but I can smell things again."

"Good to hear, darling. Good to hear." Elphina looked to see the teenagers still asleep. She sighed. "Youngsters these days." She walked over and reached into her red bag to find a horn. She blew into it with all the air she could muster out. The teenagers groaned once again. "Get up! I've already said it once."

"Elphina," Roshan groaned.

"Seriously," Cheril said.

"Can the noise, old bag," Kai said, "We're trying to sleep for about five more minutes."

Elphina knocked Kai in the head with her walking stick. "The Sun has risen. You should do so as well."

"My theory is that we're gonna scout out the place, right?" Roshan asked, combing his fingers through his mop hair.

"Hope you don't mind if we find some breakfast along the way," Cheril said, "I am starving."

"You're always starving," Kai said, "Go on a diet for once."

"Enough," Elphina said, "I have just finished speaking with the Elders. Another storm is approaching, but this time, it will be worse than the one we've just been though."

"We've been through it twice," Roshan said, "How much worse can it get?"

"Even worse than it already has. As of now, we are in the eye of the storm. The only clue we know is the light red clouds will become scarlet while the purple clouds become bruised as it proves the hour before the storm."

"So what do we need to do about it?" Kai asked.

"We must search for the one with one eye and the three chosen mammals," Elphina continued, "We must hurry, though. The land will be doomed if we don't find them before sunrise tomorrow. Let's go."

Kai sighed. "Something's telling me that the old lady's lost her mind."

"Well, whether we like it or not, we're following her," Roshan said, "Let's go." He grabbed his pack and started making his way out of the cave, along with Kai following him.

Cheril started leaving the shelter before she stepped on something that made a plush sound. She looked down to see her stuffed saber under her feet. Picking it up, she wrapped it around her arms and whispered to herself. "I will find you. That's a promise." Placing the toy in her bag, she ran out of the cave and rushed over to the others. "Guys, wait up."

Meanwhile, an acorn was stuck inside the cave wall. Scrat scurried over to try and get it out, but to no avail. He tried everything. Sticks, stones and anything else that could fit his tiny paws. At that point, he had no choice but to use fire. He lit a stick on fire and placed it on a vine. It made a small explosion, but the but was still stuck inside the wall. Scrat screamed in frustration, having no idea what else to do.

* * *

 **CHERIL IS SEARCHING FOR THE SABER THAT SAVED HER YEARS AGO. I'M PRETTY SURE YOU ALL KNOW WHO IT WAS.**

 **WELL, JUST GOING AHEAD AND PUTTING THIS OUT THERE FOR YOU. I WONDER WHO'S STALKING THE HERD. FIND OUT AS WE CONTINUE ON TO THE NEXT UPDATE.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	5. On The Trail Again

CHAPTER 4

ON THE TRAIL AGAIN

 **SWITCHBACK COVE TRAIL.**

 **TIME: MID-MORNING** **.**

The herd had started on the trail about an hour and a half ago. The Sun was shining brighter than before, but it was beating down pretty well. It let a lot of heat through, causing a heat wave to flow upon the herd. Everyone started to get hot and tired. Nobody was as tired as Shira, though. Diego took one look at her and knew they needed to find some sort of shade and fast.

"Hey, guys," Diego said, "Why don't we take a short break and find some shade?"

Buck had to agree with Diego. The Sun was blazing with all the heat rays it had. He nodded. "Alright, mammals. We'll take a half hour break." He scouted the area until he found what he was looking for. "I see a stream up ahead in case anyone needs a drink."

"I think that counts for all of us, Buck," Manny said.

Everyone decided to relax by the stream. Shira sat underneath a large tree where she took a nap. Crash and Eddie went out on a hunt to search for their missing wooden swords. Buck was sitting in a tree cuddling Bronwyn. Ellie and Peaches sat over by the shore of the stream, watching their husband's take a dive in the water. Brooke and Granny were talking while Teddy was fanning the both of them off with a giant leaf. Sid, Diego and Alejandro were sitting on what looked like a dock board that was made out of a piece of flat tree bark. It was nice to just sit down for a little bit and think things through.

Diego sighed, looking over at his wife who was resting peacefully. Buck was sitting above her keeping an eye out so he knew she was safe where she was at. He looked at the two males next to him. "Well, guys, I guess we're on our way on another adventure. I don't know how we end up being the one's that save the world from impending doom."

"Well, look on the bright side," Sid said, "At least we're all here together and we've got each other. So far, nothing has separated us."

"Really?" Alejandro said, "Why do you say that?"

"Because when disasters happen, it just brings us closer together." Sid placed his arms around the two male tigers. He looked directly at Diego. "We still need to have a chat."

"About what?" Diego asked.

"About your idea for you and Shira to have a home birth," Sid said.

"I had that same thought," Alejandro said.

"Guys, I told you that it's not my idea," Diego said, "It's Shira's. If you want to discuss this issue with anyone, talk to her about it."

"What's going on?" Everyone looked to see Manny and Julian walking up to them.

"These guys are just being a pain," Diego said, "I'm gonna go check up on Shira." Diego started walking away.

"She's just over there under that tree taking a nap," Alejandro said, "Don't bother her."

"Well, I need to find some excuse to get away from you guys." Diego continued walking away from the others.

Manny smacked Sid over the head. "Why did you bring that subject up?"

"Home births are just too risky," Sid said, "If Brooke was pregnant, our child would be born at the hospital."

"Because you would tell her the dangers of a home birth and she'd start freaking out."

"Not exactly the answer I was hoping to hear."

"You guys have such boring conversations," Julian said, "Can't we talk about something exciting like how awesome it's gonna be to save everyone again. Oh, let's tell stories. That'll pass the time."

"What kind of story do you wanna hear?" Alejandro asked.

"A true story about past adventures."

"I don't have many of those."

"We do," Sid said.

"I think he knows that, Sid," Manny said. He walked over to Julian. "Okay, Julian, you wanna hear a story, I'll give you one. I'm gonna tell you about the time when the guys and I fought the pirates."

"Already heard that one," Julian said, "Sid told me."

"Okay, well how about when Peaches was born in the Dino World?"

"Heard that one."

"How we met Buck?"

"Heard that one."

"How I met my wife and saved her in the flood when the Ice started melting?"

"Heard that one, too."

"Is there a story that Sid hasn't told you about?"

"Well, there is one," Sid said, "I never told him about how you, me and Diego met."

"You always save the best for last," Manny said.

"I always wondered how the herd came to be," Julian said, "What brought you guys together?"

"Well, you're not gonna believe what brought us together," Sid said, "It was a human."

"No way! It was a human that brought you guys together? Awesome!"

"So you believe us?" Manny asked.

"Well, it would be nice to meet this human," Julian said, "What was his name? What did he look like? How old was he?"

"You seem to ask a lot of questions, don't you?" Diego asked, walking back up to the guys.

"Yes. Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not at all."

"Okay, so tell me the story."

Before anyone else could say a word, the two possum brothers scurried out of the forest in fear, screaming as they jumped on top of Diego.

"Save us!" the twins shouted, grabbing handfuls of Diego's fur.

"Get off of me!" Diego growled, flinging the twins off his back.

The two possums swam over to their sister. They held onto her tight. "Help us!"

"What's going on?" Ellie asked, "What's the matter?"

"We saw a hideous creature in the woods," Crash said.

"Oh, not this again," Diego said.

"What did you see this time?" Manny asked, "Bigfoot?"

"No, even worse than that," Eddie said.

"It was hairless except on the top of its head," Crash said.

"The hair was gray and it looked like it was wearing a tanned fur robe."

"Plus, it was carrying a tall tree branch."

"It was also hunched over like it was old or something."

"It was old, you idiot. It had wrinkles covering its entire body."

"Why were you guys in the woods in the first place?" Teddy asked.

"We were trying to find out wooden swords," Crash said.

"We can't go into tiny combat with our tiny paws," Eddie said.

"You two need to grow up and stop acting like a bunch of babies," Gertie said, "Now shut up and stop telling."

Gavin sighed. "I seriously need to find out what is wrong with you."

"Come on, guys," Eddie said, "You have to believe us."

"We're telling the truth," Crash said.

Manny sighed. "Alright. Buck, Diego, Sid, come with me. Julian, keep an eye on everyone."

"Sure thing, Bro Dad," Julian said.

Manny walked up to his brothers-in-law. "Okay, you two. Show us where the hideous creature is."

A few minutes later, the few men members of the herd were walking up to a set of bushes. Crash and Eddie pointed towards them, showing that's where they found the creature. They took a peek, but what Manny and the others saw was not a hideous beast. It was a human, but an old human, from the looks of it. She was also a female. Crash and Eddie described her pretty well. They saw that she only looked harmless and didn't look fierce. In their opinions, they all thought of her to be just a sweet old human lady who wandered away from her tribe.

"Boy, you guys tell stories too much," Sid said.

"We weren't telling stories," Crash said.

"On the bright side, you see that this time it's real," Eddie said.

"Well, at least they were telling the truth," Diego said.

"You think we should help her out?" Sid asked.

"Are you crazy?" Manny said.

"What? It would be a kind gesture that we did."

"What if she's only a distraction to the humans that are surrounding her?"

"You worry too much. Come on."

"No, Sid, wait," Diego said.

It was too late. Sid walked over and was surprised to hear the old woman speak. She was turned around looking up at the trees. "Oh, what lovely leaves these are. I bet these could be used to make herbs." She started picking them off the trees. While doing so, she was surprised to see a saber-tooth squirrel, who happened to be Scrat, hiding behind the leaves with his nut. "Hello, little guys." She extended her hand out to help Scrat out of the tree, but he have her a look and swiped her hand away, giving him a piece of his mind. He scurried off. The old woman looked confused. "Well, that was weird." She turned around to hear a noise. She looked to see Sid spying behind some bushes. "Why, hello there. Are you looking for something?"

Sid saw that she was talking to him and he began to scream in fear, cowering to the ground. "AAAHHH! Don't hurt me! I didn't mean to be sneaky."

The old woman laughed. "No need to be frightened. I'm just a poor old woman who's just trying to find her way back to where three young humans are. Have you seen them by any chance?"

"Actually, I haven't seen any humans, but if I do, I'll let you know." Sid gasped. "Instead of coming back to find you, why don't you come with us?"

"Why I would love to." She looked over at the bushes. "Come on out. There's nothing to fear, darlings."

The remaining men walked out from behind the bushes. Diego's eyes widened. "I can't believe it. A human that can talk to animals."

"I didn't think humans could talk," Manny said.

"And you say I'm the crazy one," Buck said.

"Well, at least we know what kind of creature she is," Crash said.

"She still looks hideous, though," Eddie said.

The stick came down upon the possum's heads. The old woman walked passed them. "I wouldn't make fun of being a hideous old woman if I were you. One day, you may be walking in my shoes."

Crash scratched his head. "What did she mean by that?"

"Should we ask her if she's seen our wooden swords?" Eddie asked his brother.

"Wooden swords?" the old woman said, "You two seem a bit too old to be playing with toys."

"How did you know what we were saying?"

"I have very good hearing for a woman my age."

"Elphina!" a voice called out.

"Where are you, old bag?" another voice called out.

"Would you stop calling her that?"

"Oh, it seems the boys have come out here to find me," the woman said.

"What did they say your name was?" Diego asked.

"Elphina, dear." The woman named Elphina walked towards the sound. "Roshan! Kai! I'm over here!"

A moment later, footsteps could be heard and emerging from the bushes were two male humans. One had mopped jet black hair and was wearing mainly dark orange or light orange fur. The other had jet black hair as well, but he also had a five 'o'clock shadow. He wore a shirt and trousers, but he had a long scarf hanging from behind his neck going all the way down to his torso. They both looked at the animals surrounding Elphina. When they saw a mammoth, saber and sloth, they put their spears away.

"Elphina," the boy with mopped hair said, "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine," Elphina said, "No need to worry about me, Roshan." She walked over to the other boy with the facial hair and knocked him over the head with her walking stick. "The nerve you have in calling me an old bag, Kai."

"Well, it's your fault you wandered off," the boy named Kai said.

"Almost sounds like something Granny would do," Sid said.

"Actually, it is something she would do," Diego said.

The boy named Roshan walked over to the herd. "Thank you for keeping Elphina safe. We owe you our gratitude."

"No need to thank us, mate," Buck said.

The boy looked up to see the weasel hanging from a vine. "That's funny. I didn't see you here before."

"I know. Crazy, isn't it?" Buck started laughing like a lunatic.

"Roshan, where is Cheril?" Elphina asked.

"She said that she was having weird feelings about something, so she went off on her own," Roshan told the old woman.

"Let us go see where she is at. She must have started feeling hungry." Elphina started walking away.

"Wait up, Elphina." Roshan started going after her.

"Of course she always has to wander off," Kai said, making his way over with the other two.

"Come on," Manny said, "Let's make sure they find their other friend."

They all started walking to where the other herd members were. As an elder, Elphina always knew the way.

 **SWITCHBACK COVE STREAM.**

 **TIME: MID-MORNING** **.**

The remaining herd members were still relaxing by the stream waiting for the others to return. Shira had woken up from her nap and was enjoying the peaceful scenery when she heard a strange noise coming from behind some bushes. She may not have the strongest scent, but she has good hearing. She sat up, looking straight at where the noise was coming from.

Ellie and Alejandro walked up to the female saber. The female mammoth was concerned. "Are you alright, Shira?"

Shira looked at the two standing next to her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just hearing something from over there." She pointed at the bushes.

"We'll go check it out," Alejandro said.

Ellie and Alejandro walked over to the bushes. When they came closer, they could hear the rustling noises as well. Ellie cleared her throat. "Hello? Is anyone over there?"

"Don't be shy," Alejandro said, "Come on out."

The mysterious creature came out of the bushes. All the mammals of the herd were surprised to see a young female human emerge from out of nowhere. She had long jet black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and the front strands were hanging out in front, going all the way down to the bottom of her stomach. She was wearing dark red clothing. She wore a short sleeve top and a skirt-like bottom while wearing light red fur around her ankles. She even wore red flat shoes.

She walked up to the mammals. "Hello, there. I know you can't understand me, but it's good to meet you." She extended out her hand. "I'm Cheril."

"Nice to meet you, sweetheart," Ellie said, extending out her trunk.

Cheril was surprised to see that the female mammoth named Ellie understood her, but she simply stayed calm and shook her trunk. "It's good to meet you, Ellie."

"Is there something we can help you with, sweetheart?"

"Well, I had started having this funny feeling that my friends and I weren't the only ones on this island. Looks like I was right. You don't plan on shunning me away, do you? I know I'm a human and all and we're pretty much your enemies. I'm hoping you won't think of me as such."

"Of course we wouldn't, sweetie. Where are your friends, by the way?"

"They went to go find my caretaker. She tends to wander off from time to time."

"Sounds a lot like Granny," Shira said, walking up to the three along with the others.

"Ain't that the truth?" Granny said.

"Do you need some help finding them?" Alejandro asked.

"Ellie!" two voices shouted. It was Crash and Eddie coming out of the woods.

"We were right this time," Crash said, "We found that it was a hideous creature and it happens to be a human."

"Oh, great," Eddie said, "Looks like humans are starting to contaminate the place."

"Is there a problem with that?" They all looked to see Elphina emerge from the woods.

"Elphina," Cheril said, walking over to her, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

"Elphina?" a voice called out.

"Over here, boys," Elphina said.

Coming out of the woods were Roshan and Kai. They started freaking out when they came across more mammals.

"I thought this place was deserted," Roshan said.

"Well, it looks to me like we have a full course buffet," Kai said, readying his spear.

"Kai, no!" Cheril yelled.

Before Kai could even think about throwing his spear, Julian saved the day by snatching it out of his hands. Kai looked up at the young male mammoth. "Give that back to me!"

"Not a chance, little human boy," Julian said.

"My name's not little human boy. It's Kai."

"Whatever." Julian threw the spear. The males had made it out of the woods when Sid was almost impaled by the spear. He ducked just in time, letting the weapon impale into a tree.

"That thing could've killed me!" Sid shouted.

"Sorry," Julian apologized, "This guy was holding out his spear." He pointed directly at Kai.

Manny walked over to everyone. "Okay, okay. Settle down, everyone. Let's get things straighten out here."

"I'm confused," Brooke said, "I thought there were no humans on this island."

"I had that same thought," Diego said.

"There would have been if the rest of our tribe had stayed alive on our way here," Kai said.

"What are you talking about?" Teddy asked.

"Our tribe was sailing on the ocean to find a new home," Cheril said, "A storm hit and we had to sail the rest of the way here on a small ice float."

"Sounds like us when we first found this place," Diego told his wife.

"Yeah, right after you destroyed Gutt's ship," Shira said.

"Okay, look, we need to concentrate on stopping this storm," Manny said.

"Wait a second," Ellie said, "You guys said that your ship was destroyed by a storm, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Cheril said.

"That wouldn't happen to be the same storm that hit last night, was it?"

"It certainly was," Elphina said, "It was created by the Elders."

"Who?" Peaches asked.

"The Elders. The creators of all."

"Elphina, they're mammals," Roshan said, "They've never heard of them before. Only humans know who they are."

"I figured there must be some kind of spirit that animals follow," Elphina said. Then something came up in Elphina's mind. She gasped. "The prophecy has finally comes to us. Where is the one with one eye?"

Buck walked over to her. "That would be me."

"You, weasel, are the one who advises the three chosen mammals to save the world from impending chaos. The mammoth, the saber and the sloth. The chosen ones are right here in front of us."

"What is she talking about?" Manny asked.

"There is a way to stop this storm, but you three must journey to find where the storm will take place," Elphina said.

"That's actually what we were doing," Roger said.

"You all are not a part of the prophecy."

"No, but we are a herd, and herds stick together, no matter what," Sid said. He then gasped. "I have an idea. Why don't we all join together to stop the storm?"

"No way," Kai said, "Not gonna happen."

"Kai, it's not your decision," Cheril said.

"Uh, do you mind giving us a moment to discuss this issue?" Roshan asked, taking the other two over to Elphina.

"Sure, go ahead," Manny said, "We need to talk anyway amongst ourselves."

The humans huddled together with Kai being the first to speak. "Are you guys crazy? We are not joining these idiots. Whoever heard of animals saving the world?"

"These are the same animals that saved the world from an asteroid," Elphina said.

"Well, they seemed like kind animals to me," Cheril said.

"Maybe in your book, but in my book, they're a bunch of freaks," Kai said, "What do you think, Roshan? Should we go with them or go alone?"

"Well, the only way to settle this matter is to vote on it," Roshan said, "Everyone, state your vote."

"I vote we go with the mammals," Elphina said.

"I vote that, too," Cheril said.

"I go with your votes," Roshan said.

"Well, I vote we go on our own," Kai said.

"Looks like we don't have a unanimous vote."

"But it's three against one so Kai loses," Cheril said.

"Remember what's important, young ones," Elphina said, "Stopping that storm before it destroys everything."

Meanwhile, back over with the mammals, Manny smacked Sid over the head. "Why did you invite them along?"

"Because they want to stop the storm, too," Sid said.

"Sid, their humans."

"Well, we all thought that humans couldn't talk, but they sure proved us wrong," Diego said.

"Maybe they can help us, Manny," Ellie said.

"Maybe?" Manny said, "Ellie, I've confronted humans before."

"Well, not all humans are the same."

"I don't think any of us are coming to a conclusion," Buck said, "I say we vote on it. Either the humans stay or go. Ladies first."

The ladies whispered amongst themselves for a moment before turning back around to face the guys. Ellie spoke up. "As ladies, our vote is unanimous. The humans stay with us."

"Well, that's a total of six votes."

"Six?" Diego asked.

"Don't forget the female dino bird," Buck said.

"Well, Roger and I don't wanna risk it so our vote is we want them out of here," Gavin said.

"Uh, I actually want them to stay," Roger said.

"Roger!"

"That's seven votes for stay and one for go," Buck said.

"Well, what do you think, Crash?" Eddie asked his brother.

"I vote that they go," Crash said.

"Me, too."

"That's seven votes for stay and three votes for go," Buck said.

"Well, I don't really see them as a problem," Teddy said, "Let them stay."

"That's eight votes for stay and three votes for go."

"I want them to go," Julian said.

"I second that vote," Manny said.

"Same here," Diego said.

"I'm not taking any risk," Alejandro said, "They need to go.

"That's eight votes for stay and seven votes for go," Buck said.

"Julian, I thought you were nicer than that," Sid said, "I can imagine why Manny, Diego and Alejandro voted go. It'll be almost a tie vote if we had somebody else vote."

"That will be me, actually. To make things interesting, I vote that they go."

"Well, I vote that they stay."

"Well, that's nine votes for stay and eight votes for go. Looks like stay wins."

The humans came back over to the herd. Elphina was the first to speak. "We have decided to come along with you."

"We've decided the same thing," Sid said.

"As long as you keep those spears away, I'm fine," Julian said. Kai took out his spear. "See? That's the opposite of what I just said."

"I don't think I've ever seen Julian this way," Diego said.

"Okay, now that we've voted and everything, it seems as though we're travelling together to stop this storm," Manny said, "No need to worry, though. We're all gonna get along and be nice to the one another. First things first. Introductions." He cleared his throat. "My name is Manfred, but everybody calls me Manny."

"Also known as Manny the Moody Mammoth," Sid said.

Manny sighed as he continued with introductions. "This here is my wife Ellie. This is our daughter Peaches and this is her husband Julian. The orange saber is Diego and his wife next to him is Shira."

"Better watch out for her mood swings," Sid said, "She's pregnant."

"I could've told them myself, Sid," Shira said.

"Moving on," Manny said, "The older saber is Shira's father, Alejandro. The twin possums on top of Ellie are Crash and Eddie."

"Also known as Ellie's brothers," Sid said, "She's part possum."

"Shut up, Sid," Manny said.

"I'm just trying to clear away confusions, Manny."

"Continuing on. You know this sloth. His name is Sid. This sloth here with the red fur around is Sid's wife Brooke and the older sloth is Sid's grandmother Granny. The rabbit is Teddy. He's Granny's lover."

"He's three hundred and twenty-six years old."

"Sid! Okay, the dino birds are Gavin, Gertie and Roger and the weasel is Buck. Okay, everyone has been introduced. So now it's time to know who you all are."

"Well, I'm Roshan," Roshan said, "I was the chief of the tribe's son."

"Good to meet you," Manny said.

"This here is my friend Cheril. This is Elphina, our female Elder, and this here is Kai. He's pretty wild at times."

"Good to know."

"I hope he knows some good pranks," Crash said.

"Alright, now that introductions have been completed, let us continue on with our journey to save our home from the impending storm that is bound to hit us," Buck said.

"Can we at least have another ten minutes to rest?" Shira asked.

"Sorry, preggers, but we need to keep moving. Let's go."

In the back, Peaches looked at her husband, confused as to why he sounded so serious about not wanting the humans to join the herd to save the island. She's never seen Julian act so serious about anything before. He has a couple of times, but not the way he is now.

She didn't know if now was the right time to ask, but she decided to do it, anyway. "Julian, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Julian said, "No need to worry about me. I'm fine and dandy."

"Are you sure? You didn't sound fine and dandy when taking that vote. You sounded...serious."

"I've been serious before."

"Well, yeah, but not that serious."

"There's nothing to worry about, Peach. I'm fine. Just do me a favor, will you?"

"Sure. Anything, Julian."

"Don't get too close to those humans. Or as I call them savages."

Peaches gasped. "Julian!" He slapped him across the face with her trunk. "How can you say something like that?"

"That's who they are. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Julian, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. Don't go acting like my father. You are better than this. Start acting right."

Julian felt his cheek sting with the slap Peaches just gave. "Ow." He shook it off and continued walking with the herd.

Behind him, Scrat was trying to swim in the stream for his acorn as it kept floating away from him. He floated pretty much wherever his nut kept going. Oh, Scrat and his acorn. Those two are inseparable.

What he didn't notice was a shadow forming up behind him, chuckling softly before disappearing once more. Who could it be and where does it come from? Will we ever know?

* * *

 **ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR YOU GUYS. THIS ONE WAS A BIT LONG SO THAT'S WHY IT TOOK ME A LITTLE TIME TO GET IT DONE. THE HUMANS AND MAMMALS FINALLY MEET AND ARE GOING TOGETHER TO STOP THAT STORM.**

 **WHAT IS UP WITH JULIAN AND HUMANS? WHAT IS FOLLOWING AFTER EVERYONE? WILL SCRAT EVER GET HIS NUT? PROBABLY NOT, BUT LET'S JUST KEEP GOING.**

 **DON'T WALK AWAY. MORE CHAPTERS TO COME.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	6. The First Obstacle

CHAPTER 5

THE FIRST OBSTACLE

 **SWITCHBACK COVE TRAIL.**

 **TIME: AFTERNOON.**

The entire herd continued on the trail. The afternoon Sun was starting to take its toll and was beating down upon the herd members. Nobody knows how it got so hot all of a sudden. Even the humans were beginning to swelter. Cheril was busy making a parasol out of giant leaves and a long branch while Roshan began taking off the fur coat that he wore. Kai removed the scarf from around his shoulders while also removing his shirt. Elphina continued walking, ignoring the heat as she knew they had more important matters to attend to.

Cheril had finally finished her parasol. "There. Now it's finished." She placed it above her, keeping her under cool shade. "Now I can feel comfortable while walking."

"I have a feeling you just created a new invention," Sid said.

"She's made those things before," Kai said, "After a few uses to them, they always fall apart."

"Elphina, does the intense heat have something to do with the eye of the storm?" Roshan asked.

"Indeed, it does," Elphina said, "Tomorrow the temperature will drop almost to zero. Be glad today is a comfortable day."

"This heat is not comfortable," Kai said.

"It is to me. Keep your pants on, Kai." Elphina didn't have to look to know that Kai was trying to take off his pants.

Cheril kept her head turned away. "Kai, please tell me you're wearing a loincloth this time."

"Nope," Kai said, "You know I don't wear those stupid undergarments."

"Kai," Roshan said, "Stop trying to act like the king of the jungle."

"Oh, sure. I'm trying very hard to be jungle man."

"Will you guys keep it down back there?" Manny asked, "We're trying to have a peaceful journey."

"There will be no peacefulness during this journey," Buck said, "Mark my words, mammals, humans and flying reptiles. We will be having an adventure. Good thing I know all about these parts of the island now."

"Good thing because we need someone to lead us there," Sid said.

"Don't forget about us, Peaches said, "Julian and I can help, too."

"You can?"

"Yeah," Julian said, "We've been travelling through these parts of the island for like, months now."

"Well, you'll be the backup leaders in case something goes wrong," Buck said, "It's always good to be prepared."

"Looks like we're coming towards something up ahead," Shira said, sitting down a moment.

"What do you think you're doing, preggers?"

"Sitting down. There's no way we're gonna get through that." Shira pointed what was behind Buck.

Everyone looked to see a giant steep mountain covered in sand right in front of them. Buck rolled his eyes and started laughing. "That's nothing. I've climbed this thing plenty of times."

"Julian and I climbed it once, but it's pretty steep," Peaches said, "We'll have to watch our step. It's easy to lose your balance."

"Plus, I'm pretty sure that sand is hot thanks to the blazing Sun," Roshan said.

"Isn't there a way to go around it?" Shira asked.

"Nope," Julian said, "There's only one way to go and that's travelling on it."

"It won't be easy," Buck said.

"It'll be easy with us," Gavin said, referring to himself and his kids, "We'll go above and scout out the area. Once we do that, we'll help you guys get through."

"Thanks," Manny said.

"Well, I guess we start climbing up," Diego said, looking at his wife, "Stay close to me, hon."

Shira sighed. "Yes, Diego."

As the herd began climbing their way up the mountain, two shadows formed from behind them. One of them was almost like the shape of a sloth while the other looked like the shape of a saber. They actually were, though. The saber was red orange with mahogany colored eyes. His left fang was chipped up pretty bad while his right fang was just plain yellow. He was giggling and laughing at the same time continuously, stating that he was crazy. The sloth right next to him was a light orange color with blue eyes. He looked pretty normal for a sloth at the least. He was actually a few of the only male sloths who actually took a bath daily and made her he was clean from head to toe. This could only happen if he was a germaphobe. Which he was. He had a plan white patch of fur around his stomach and his claws were shiny and clean. Not a speck of dirt on them.

The saber continued to giggle and laugh. "Oh, boy. Look at all that meat, Marty. Four mammoths, four humans, three sloths, a rabbit, two possums, two sabers and a weasel in a pear tree. There's just so much to choose from. How will I know where to begin my feast?"

The sloth named Marty slapped him across the face. "Shut it, Chippy. We don't want them to hear us. We were told to figure out where they were heading to so we can tell the leader and then he can tell the boss. We can't do that if our cover is blown." Unlike most male sloths, Marty was one of the few that was actually quite smart.

"I don't get it. We have a leader, but what's up with the boss? How did he get jumbled up into this mess? It's the leader that wants revenge. What is it that he's wanting revenge for?"

"That's for the leader to know and for us to find out in time. We won't know what happened until we figure out where they're going. Now shut up and follow me."

The two strange mammals walked over to see that the herd was heading towards Unbalanced Mountain. Chippy started laughing and giggling. "Oh, look where they're heading. Up the mountain they go."

Marty rolled his eyes. "Thanks for pointing that out. Come on. Let's go tell the boss."

They both made their way into the woods where they went inside a small cave that contained only one mammal. A mammoth was sitting inside, watching the entrance like a hawk. Probably waiting for those two mammals to return. He was a large mammoth with half his right tusk gone and had a scar underneath his left eye. His fur was a very dark gray color while his eyes were just cold gray. If you looked at him long enough, you could tell that this guy doesn't get out much.

The mammoth looked at the crazy saber and stern sloth. "I suspect you two found out where they are."

"Sure did, Randolph," Marty said, "They're on Unbalanced Mountain trying to get to the other side. Is the boss planning on coming along, too?"

"Indeed, but for now, the three of us will began a warning attack," Randolph said, "The leader will return in the morning and meet us at the mountain. He had somebody to pick up."

"You don't have to say who."

"Actually, I don't remember," Chippy said, "Can you tell me again?"

Randolph sighed. "Come on." He started walking out of the cave.

Chippy looked at Marty. "I wonder why that herd is so important to him. It makes me feel as though he's been watching them."

Marty slapped the crazy saber in the back of the head. "He has, you idiot. Now come on. We're about to have some fun."

The two mammals followed their mammoth leader. A warning attack was about to happen. The herd is not prepared and they are not fit to fight, especially in this extreme heat.

 **SWITCHBACK COVE UNBALANCED MOUNTAIN.**

 **TIME: AFTERNOON.**

The herd continued making their way up the mountain. They were still on the side where they started, but at least they were making progress. The mid-afternoon heat was blazing the entire island, making the entire group go at a slow pace. The dino birds were up in the skies, keeping an eye out to make sure there wasn't any danger around the mountain.

Gertie started getting bored from flying around and wanted to find a tree branch to rest on. "This is stupid. I need to find a place to land."

"Gertie, now is not the time to rest," Gavin said, "We need to keep an eye out on things. With the herd travelling on ground, We need to be on the lookout for danger."

"You can look for danger all you want. I'm out of here." Gertie started flying down towards the forest.

Gavin sighed. "Roger, how far is the herd to the other side?"

Roger used his keen eyesight to see how far the herd was. "They're getting close to the end of the edge and are about to make it to the other side."

"Go let them know that," Gavin said, "I need to go fetch your sister." He started making his way down into the woods.

Roger flew over to the herd. "Hey, guys. Just wanted to let you know that you're all halfway there."

"Thanks, Roger," Manny said.

Roger flew off as the herd continued on. By now, everyone was hoping that this whole trip could end so they could go home, but they were the one's that had to save the world.

Sid had his mind on what the prophecy was about the whole time. "So can you explain the prophecy and why it's so important, Elphina?"

"Of course," Elphina said, "The prophecy is about how the four humans were to find the three chosen mammals and the one with one eye. Now that we have, we must do everything in our power to stop the storm from happening and place the eye of the storm at ease. Hopefully, along the way, your one eyed weasel friend name Buck will know what to do. The Elders have told me that he was able to find a way to stop the asteroid by using what nobody else has used before. It is something called science."

"I don't know what that is, but hopefully it will help us."

"Wait a second," Manny said, "How do you know anything about how Buck and the rest of us were able to save the world from an asteroid?"

"Elphina is the Woman Elder of Wisdom," Cheril said.

"That's not all she is," Kai said, "She is also known as the Mistress of The Wilderness, the Mistress of Womanhood, the Woman Doctor and The Midwife."

"I think the Woman Doctor and The Midwife are both the same things," Roshan said.

"That's what you think."

"Wait a second," Shira said, "What's a midwife?"

"A female physician that delivers babies," Elphina said, "I don't just do it for humans. I have also done it for wolves, cats, opossums, sloths, and even mammoths."

"So you've never delivered saber cubs before?" Shira asked.

"I have once. It was a long time ago, though, but I'm pretty sure this old noggin of mine will bring it back to me. Why do you ask, dear?"

"Well, the thing is-"

"Shhhh!" Manny shushed.

"Excuse me, you have no right to be rude," Shira said.

"Stop talking for a second. I heard something. Did you guys hear it?"

Everyone stopped to listen in the distance. Buck had both his ears perked up. "It sounds like footsteps."

"If that's true, I don't think we're alone," Peaches said.

Back up in the skies, Roger was taking a flight around the mountain when he spotted three mammals trying to create chaos not too far from the trail the herd was walking upon. He gasped. "I better warn the herd." He flew over to where the herd had stopped at. "Guys, there's three mammals that are trying to create an attack."

"What?!" the herd and humans shouted.

"Where's your father and sister?" Buck asked, "We need them."

"Gertie just flew off and my dad flew after her," Roger said.

"It's all up to us than, Roger," Buck said.

"What about the rest of us?" Manny asked.

"Okay, here's the plan. Humans, we're going to need to use those long sharp thingys."

"You mean spears?" Roshan said.

"Yes, those things," Buck said, "You and that other male human."

"What about me?" Cheril asked, "Let me help fight."

"What can you do?"

"I can use a bow and arrow."

"You'll need something more than just that. You're better off helping the elderly."

"Excuse me. I can fight, too."

"Sorry, madam, but I have rules. Rule number one is always listen to Buck."

"I thought you made up that rule," Crash said.

"That doesn't mean I still can't enforce it," Buck said.

"Okay, what about us?" Manny asked.

"The girls will stand back for now. I have something they can do, but I'll need Gavin and Gertie. Teddy and Alejandro, you stay with the girls. Manny, Diego, Sid, and Julian. You all are going to distract them by doing what you do best. That means fight them off or tell them jokes until I have the real action come in. Crash, Eddie and humans, you all are with me. Roger, you to and find your family and tell them to meet the girls."

"Can do, Buck," Roger said, flying off.

"Okay, everyone,let's do this," Buck said. They all scrambled off into two different directions. The guys went towards the mammals while the girls, Alejandro and Teddy made their way to a cave. Buck, the possum twins and the human boys walked over towards the top of the mountain.

Chippy started laughing and giggling as usual, making him annoying to the mammoth and sloth next to him. "Oh, this is gonna be so much fun. I can't wait to attack that herd. Can I eat those tiny possums?"

"Would you shut up?" Marty said, "You're starting to become a pain." He sighed. "How the heck did we end up with this bozo joining us, anyway?"

"The boss said that he felt bad for him and took him under his wing," Randolph said, "He did get kicked out of his pack. The boss thought that if we involved Chippy, it would teach the guy how to be a real saber."

"Yeah, that really hasn't been working out."

They heard whistling noises coming from behind them. It was Sid, who was pretending to mind his own business and had no idea that the mammals were there. "Oh, hi. Didn't see you there. Don't mind me. I'm just walking and minding my own business."

"Are you sure about that?" Marty asked, "I'm not sure how a weird, dumb looking sloth like you could casually walk up here without getting killed. You must just be filled with a lot of good luck or something if nothing hasn't killed you yet."

"Well, I have had my share of near death experiences, but I've survived lots of catastrophes. Floods, dinosaurs, pirates and even asteroids. I can even survive a saber attack."

"Oh, I wanna see that," Chippy said.

Randolph slapped the stupid saber in the back of the head. "Start acting like a saber, you idiot. Attack him already."

Before Chippy could make a move, Diego came out of nowhere and pounced on Sid. Since Sid wanted to pretend to prove a point to the mammals, he rolled Diego over and pressed him down to the ground.

"Ha!" Sid exclaimed, "Score one for the sloth." Diego smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow! And that scores all tied up."

Over with Buck and his small crew, the one eyed weasel looked at each one of them. "Alright, men. Listen up. I'll need your full attention and you're all going to have to stop these mammals from trying to harm us. Are you ready?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Crash and Eddie said.

Roshan and Kai just stood there staring at the small mammals. They had this strange feeling that they wouldn't be able to handle such a giant task. If Buck knew they could do it, then the male humans wouldn't say anything against it.

"What do you expect us to do?" Roshan asked.

"Alright, here's the plan," Buck said, "Crash and Eddie, you two are gonna have to create a prank weapon so powerful to lure those mammals off the mountain. Or somewhere far away from here. Whichever works. Humans, you both help them out."

"That's it?" Kai asked.

"Oh, here we go," Roshan said.

"You expect us to be lead by two little rats? That is the most stupidest thing I have ever heard. The dumbest, if you ask me. I'm not about to follow what an animal wants."

"Listen here, buddy," Buck said, "I'm in charge of this plan and rule number one is always listen to Buck. You don't seem to follow rules much, huh?"

"Not really. Especially from an animal."

"Kai, we're kind of in the middle of a situation right now," Roshan said, "This is no time to be arguing with the weasel."

Kai sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. Next time, don't make us do what an animal will make us do."

"Suit yourself," Buck said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find the ladies." Buck scurried off and made his way to the girls.

Kai rolled his eyes. "Forget what he wants us to do. I have a plan of my own. Come on, Roshan."

"Sorry, but I follow rules," Roshan said, "Maybe you should start doing that yourself."

"He's nothing but a crazy weasel." Roshan crossed his arms while Kai just groaned. "Whatever. You're on your own." He huffed and started walking away.

Roshan shook his head as he walked back over to Crash and Eddie. "Okay, guys, what's the plan?"

"You'll see when we have it finished," Crash said as he and Eddie had already began construction of their prank weapon.

"How good are you at throwing spears?" Eddie asked.

"Pretty good," Roshan said. To prove it, he threw his spear over by the rock wall of the mountain and the weapon sticked inside of it.

"Not bad," Crash said, "Have you ever tried shooting a spear before?"

"I think I know where you're going with this."

 **SWITCHBACK COVE UNBALANCED MOUNTAIN INSIDE A CAVE.**

 **TIME: AFTERNOON.**

The girls were hiding inside a cave along with Alejandro and Teddy. They were all waiting for Buck and started worrying about the guys.

Shira groaned in frustration. "I'm tired of waiting. We already have enough to deal with. Now we have to worry about vicious mammals coming after us."

"Don't worry, everyone," Ellie said, "If I know Buck, he can be counted on."

"The Elders did warn me that Buck is a crazy and delusional weasel, but they also said that he has saved plenty of animals lives throughout catastrophes," Elphina said, "I for one believe that everyone deserves a chance."

Buck popped his head inside the cave. "Glad to see me?"

"It's about time you finally showed up," Shira said.

"Impatient there, aren't we, preggers? Never mind. Okay, you guys are gonna have to become the backup distractors. The guys won't be able to hold off those mammals for long and they'll need some help."

"What should we do, Buck?" Cheril asked.

"Do what girls know how to do best when they get what they want," Buck said, "Be sweet and kind and help to lead them inside a trap that the human guys and the possums are building."

"That's something we were born to do," Peaches said.

"Good. You girls stay in here and get freshened up." Buck left the girls to make themselves look nice.

"Okay, so who's better at doing makeup?" Alejandro asked.

"And don't ask one of us because men do not do makeup for girls," Teddy said.

"I wouldn't expect boys to know," Granny said, "It's been a long time since I looked pretty."

"I'll help you girls out," Shira said, "After all, I'm not in the mood to be called fat."

"Give us what you got," Ellie said.

"Allow me to do so as well," Elphina said, "Cheril, I will need some assistance. Also, I will have to freshen you up, too."

"There is no way I'm gonna be part of this plan if it involves having to fix my hair," Cheril said.

"The way your hair is now makes you look like a rag doll. Now be a dear and hand me the red paint."

Elphina started helping Shira freshen up the girls while Granny watched in awe. The two guys that were with them were not sure of what to say. All they could do was stand and stare.

 **SWITCHBACK COVE UNBALANCED MOUNTAIN TRAIL.**

 **TIME: AFTERNOON.**

Back over with the males, Diego and Sid were still busy trying to create the distracting show for the three mammals. At that moment, Sid was being chased around by Diego, who was pretending to eat the male sloth. At that point, Diego placed Sid in his mouth, but didn't placed his fangs in the sloth's neck to where he would suffocate.

Sid pretended to gag his final breath. "Oh, what a world! What a world!" Then he pretended to be dead.

Marty rolled his eyes. "This is ridiculous. He's not even dead. The saber's fangs aren't even inside his neck. I wanna see some real killing. Chippy, show them what you've got."

Chippy laughed and giggled. "With pleasure." He started walking over to the two before stomping noises could be heard. Chippy turned around to see Julian in front of him, holding a huge log.

Julian smirked. "Surprise!" He knocked Chippy to the side of the wall, who kept thinking he was seeing stars.

Manny ran up to them. "Alright, good hit, bro son."

"Thanks, bro dad," Julian said.

Randolph stomped over to Chippy, forcing him onto all four paws. "Get up, you idiot." He placed his attention at the two mammoths. "Who are you guys?"

"I should be asking the same thing," Manny said.

"Well, I'm glad you asked. Allow me to introduce myself and the rest of the Mammal Gang."

"Mammal Gang?" Diego asked, "That's the dumbest name for a herd."

"Well, we like it," Chippy said.

"Shut up, Chippy!" Marty said, smacking the saber.

Randolph sighed. "My name is Randolph. The sloth's name is Marty and the saber's name is Chippy."

"Manfred is the name," Manny said.

"Oh, it's wonderful to meet you, Manny. Actually, I should be saying that it's wonderful to see you again, Manny. You may not remember me, but I remember you."

"I don't remember you."

"You don't? I'm ashamed to hear that. I suppose it was a long time ago since that little incident happened. When you took the one I wanted away from me." Randomly ran towards him.

Manny was about to attack before Julian stepped in the way. Randolph ran into him instead of the older male mammoth.

Manny was bewildered, but also shocked. "Julian, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to keep him from attacking you," Julian said, "Go find Buck. Hurry!"

"What an idiot you are in trying to protect him," Randolph said, "Let me guess. You must be Manny's son."

"I'm actually his son-in-law, but let's go with what you said," Julian said, struggling to keep Randolph in his grasp.

Manny started calling out for Buck. "Buck! Buck! We need help!"

"Manny!" Buck called back, running over to his mammoth friend, "Don't worry. I have some backup distraction on the way and the possums along with those male humans are almost finished with the ultimate weapon. Just hang in there a little longer." He started running off again.

"Buck, wait!"

"Manny!" Diego shouted, "We can't hold them off much longer!"

Manny ran over to help his friends. What they didn't see was that Kai had placed an empty turtle shell upon his head and climbed onto a vine with a spear in his hand. He took a deep breath and started crying out his warrior call before swinging over to the battle. "I'm here to help!" He didn't see that he was about to miss and smacked into the side of the cliff. Luckily he was tied onto the vine by the foot and had swung back to the tree. He then notice that he caused that part of the cliff the battle was on to start collapsing. He sighed. "I guess that was a stupid idea after all."

The herd members were able to climb back up the trail. So were the Mammal Gang. Randolph stood in front of them. "This ends now."

 **SWITCHBACK COVE UNBALANCED MOUNTAIN. INSIDE A CAVE.**

 **TIME: AFTERNOON.**

Back inside the cave, Shira and Elphina were putting the finishing touches on the girls.

"Now let's pull back those bangs and...there," Elphina said, "Now that hair of yours looks a lot better."

"It won't be right after I fix it once this whole thing is over," Cheril said.

Buck barged inside. "Are you girls ready? The guys can't hold them off much longer."

"Almost done," Shira said, putting the finishing touches on Brooke, "There. Now you look like a girl who gets everything she wants."

"I'll try to be the best actress I can be," Brooke said.

"Alright, ladies, follow me," Buck said, "Those of you that are not a part of this scheme get to the possums and male humans. Let's move it, mammals."

The girls that were participating in the act followed Buck as the weasel made his way over to where the guys were. He looked to see Manny and the others surrounded by the Mammal Gang.

Ellie tapped Buck's shoulder. "What's the plan, Buck?"

"Alright, girls, listen up," Buck said, "I need you all to go out there and put on your best show. Once I give you my signal, which will be a whistle, lead those mammals to where I'll be leading you. Just follow me and don't stand anywhere near the target line. Got it?"

"Got it," the girls said.

"Go get them, girls."

The Mammal Gang were closing in on the herd. Randolph began laughing. "Don't worry, Manny. I'll make sure nothing happens to you." He gave an evil smile.

"It's four against three, Randolph," Manny said, "You can't beat all of us."

"Watch me."

Giggling could be heard from behind them. "Yoo-hoo! Oh, boys!" They all looked to see Ellie. Manny's mouth dropped open when he saw his wife. She was wearing beauty paint, otherwise known as makeup, on her face while her fur on top was brushed down and had flowers in it. She even wore a bracelet on her trunk. The older female mammoth walked over to the males. "Why would you want to bother with trying to get back at these guys when you could really hanging out with some pretty girls like us?" Ellie snapped her fingers, revealing Peaches and Brooke.

Sid and Julian's mouths dropped. Their girls were just drop dead gorgeous. Peaches looked the same like her mother, except her hair was down with a flower band made of sunflowers placed on top of it. She wore an ankle bracelet made with crystals around her front left leg. Brooke looked as though she had way too many bracelets on and she was even wearing crystal diamond shaped earrings. Her claws were painted red as well as her lips. Her hair was even pulled back, something that she doesn't normally do. All in all, the three of them were just beautiful.

Brooke walked over to Marty. "Like what you see, sweetie?" She made eye contact with Sid for a moment and winked at him. He understood and nodded toward her. Marty was suspicious for a second until Brooke made up an excuse. "My apologies. I had something in my eye." She started rubbing her claws gently on his chest. "You seem like a good looking sloth."

"Well, I have been working out," Marty said, showing off his biceps.

Ellie walked over to Randolph. "Aren't you big and strong? I have never seen a handsome hunk of a mammoth like you before." She giggled a bit.

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I am the best of the best," Randolph said.

Ellie smiled seductively. "I can see why."

Peaches made her way over to Chippy. "I can see that you've got some battle scars on you. I bet you are a hero to all you know." She started tickling the crazy saber under his chin.

Chippy started purring. "Oh, I think I'm gonna like this."

"If you like that, let me rub that cute cheek of yours." Peaches started running the insane saber's cheek. Chippy started laughing and giggling in his usual way, only this time in enjoyment.

Randolph was enjoying himself. He looked back at Manny and the others. "You girls are really gorgeous. I can't say no to that."

Manny leaned over towards Sid. "What's going on?"

"I think this is all part of Buck's plan," Sid whispered, "Trust these girls on this."

The girls continued flirting and giggling, pretending to enjoy having fun with the Mammal Gang. Randolph kept his eyes on the males and looked at Ellie. "You ladies are really sweet and all, but I'm afraid we must get back to business. I hope you all can understand."

"Leaving so soon?" A voice came from behind everyone. They all looked to see Cheril. The Mammal Gang's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "Hello, boys. Hope you don't mind if I crash the party."

Cheril had looked so different from how she did last time. Her hair was pulled down. It went all the way down on top of her thighs, curled up and placed over her left shoulder. She was also wearing beauty paint, but this time she was wearing a scarlet colored dress that only went down to the middle of her thighs. She also showed off a bit in the front at the top of her dress. She was also wearing a pair of flats covered in red fur that mainly showed off the top of her feet, hiding her toes.

"Well, hello, pretty girl," Marty said, "I think beauty just got a whole lot more modern."

Chippy started panting. "I can't stop staring at something that I wanna marry one day."

"You idiots," Randolph said, slapping both men in the face, "We've got work to do."

"You would choose work over me?" Cheril asked, crossing her arms, "That's just selfish."

"Uh, well, as a matter of fact...I suppose we could spare a little time and spend it with you girls. Won't we, boys?"

"Yeah, yeah, we can," Marty said.

"I'm all in for it," Chippy said.

"Follow us, boys," Ellie said, motioning the boys to follow the girls.

Randolph placed his eyes on the herd. "Follow us and no funny business."

Manny leaned over towards Diego. "I hope they know what they're doing."

"Let's just hope they do," Diego said.

Soon they were all making their way towards the bottom of the Unbalanced Mountain. Once the girls found the red target spot, they smiled. The plan was working well.

Cheril smiled, looking at the Mammal Gang. "Come stand over here, boys. We have a special surprise for you."

"Oh, I wonder what it is," Chippy said.

The herd members were walking over towards the others, but Randolph stopped them. "Stay there. Don't move."

The Mammal Gang made their way over towards the red target. They weren't directly in the middle, so Ellie had to direct them a bit. "Move one step towards your right, boys." The bad guys did as they were told. Ellie nodded. "Good. Now close your eyes because you are in for the biggest surprise for your lives."

The boys closed their eyes. Chippy was laughing as usual. "Oh, I can hardly wait."

"Alright, here it comes."

"LOOK OUT!" shouted Kai, who was swinging his way towards the others on a vine. He literally missed and fell off the vine and hit the ground on the bottom of the mountain. Luckily, it was only a few feet. The guy's eyes were opened when they saw what was really coming for them.

"Spear!" Marty shouted. A flying spear was heading right towards them. They all moved out of the way in the time to let it smack on a rock. Marty started panting. "Where the heck did that come from?"

"I don't know, but I'm not sticking around," Chippy said, "I'm outta here!" He started running off but knocked into Marty and they both tumbled off the mountain.

Randolph groaned. "Those idiots. Can't do anything right." He started retreating himself. "Today was just a warning, Manny. Next time, you won't be able to stop us." He finally ran off to catch up with the rest of his clan.

The rest of the herd gathered up with the others. Buck was able to make it back with the dino birds. He saw that the plan worked well. "Well, mammals, looks like those guys will come back, but when they do, we'll be ready."

"Who were they, anyway?" Roshan asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen them around before."

"I'm sure Manny has," Sid said.

"What's he talking about, Manny?" Ellie asked.

"Okay, well, I've seen the mammoth before, but I've never seen the other two," Manny said, "The mammoth guy and I used to be in the same herd years ago when I was young."

"When you were a teenager?" Peaches asked.

"Yeah, I moved away from home to be my own mammoth. Look, I'll tell you guys later. Right now, we need to keep moving."

"Manny's right, everyone," Buck said, "It's time to resume moving. It'll be sundown in a couple of hours by the looks of it. Let's go."

The herd continued moving. Manny walked over to the dino birds. "Hey, what happened to you guys?"

"Sorry about that, Manny," Gavin said, "Gertie ran off and I had to catch up with her."

"I only flew off because I got bored," Gertie said.

Gavin sighed. "I really need to figure out what's going on with you."

Behind the mammoths, Diego walked over to his wife. "Let me guess. You helped out with the makeovers."

"That's right," Shira said.

"Why didn't you do it?"

"I wasn't in the mood to be called fat."

"Oh, I know why," Alejandro said, "It's because of your mood swings."

"Thanks for pointing that out, Daddy," Shira said.

Back over with the humans, Roshan couldn't take his eyes off Cheril. He was mesmerized by her beauty. Elphina quickly noticed this and patted her walking stick on Roshan's shoulder. "Something looks interesting to you, I see."

Roshan shook his head. "Oh, I wasn't looking at Cheril. Was I? I'm not sure."

Elphina giggled. "Your secret is safe with me."

"What secret?"

"Roshan," Cheril said, "I guess You have noticed something different about me."

Roshan shook his head as if he were in a daze. "I will be honest. You look very beautiful. I mean stunning. I mean gorgeous. Oh, why can't I ever say something positive that's not original."

Cheril giggled. "Well, once we find somewhere to settle down at, I'll start fixing myself up."

"I don't know. You actually look really nice the way you are." Cheril gave Roshan a look. "Well, whatever works best for you. I would never tell you how to dress."

Cheril smiled. She then remembered something. "Hey, have you seen Kai?"

"Not since he ran off to do his own thing."

"I know where he is," Elphina said. She threw a rock and sure enough, Kai groaned in pain. "Well, at least he is alive."

Kai and Cheril looked down to see if Kai was okay. The disobedient teenager looked up at them. "Hey, guys."

"You know, Kai, sometimes it's better if you stick with the plan," Roshan said.

"As if."

"Now you know why humans are considered savages," Julian said to his wife.

"Julian!" Peaches said sternly, smacking her husband on the back of his head.

"Ow!" Julian said, "Okay, okay, I'll shut up."

Soon the herd finally reached to the bottom and continued down the trail. Now it was time to find a place to settle down at for the night.

* * *

 **HEY, GUYS.**

 **OKAY, I KNOW THIS CHAPTER IS LONG, BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF STUFF I JUST HAD TO PUT INTO THIS CHAPTER. NOW WE HAVE MET SOME OF THE BAD GUYS, BUT WHO'S THE REAL VILLAIN? HOPEFULLY, WE'LL FIND OUT SOON. I'M JUST WONDERING WHY THIS RANDOLPH GUY WANTS REVENGE ON MANNY.**

 **KEEP READING TO FIND OUT.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	7. Reliving The Past

CHAPTER 6

RELIVING THE PAST

 **BEFORE YOU BEGIN READING, PLEASE READ THE UPDATED CAST LIST.**

 **MARTY: BEN STILLER**

 **RANDOLPH: CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER**

 **CHIPPY: JACK BLACK**

 **THE MYSTERIOUS HUMAN (NAME WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER IN THE STORY): MORGAN FREEMAN**

 **THE MYSTERIOUS SABER CAST VOICE WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS.**

 **CONTINUE ENJOYING THE STORY.**

 **SWITCHBACK COVE TRAIL.**

 **TIME: SUNSET.**

The herd made it to an open space in the middle of the woods. Buck announced that they would be stopping there for the night. Everyone started settling down for the night. Sid began making a fire, Manny went to get some logs for the humans to sit on, Diego was helping Shira get comfortable for the night, Ellie and Peaches were having a chat while getting some berries, Julian was collecting more firewood to throw into the fire while Brooke watched and learned how her husband made such a warm fire. The twins continued looking for their wooden swords while Teddy was mashing up a mango for Granny, who once again lost her teeth. Alejandro was settling down for the night as he was beginning to fall asleep. Buck was putting Bronwyn in her stroller and kissing her goodnight. The dino birds were settling down comfortably in the trees.

The humans were pretty much keeping to themselves. Roshan and Kai had went over to the stream nearby and caught some fish for the night. Elphina was making sleeping cots for herself and the other three humans. Cheril was looking through her pack and found her hairbrush that was made of hay and wood. As she was fixing her hair back to the way it was, her pack fell and caused everything to fall out. Once she placed everything back in the pack, her eyes widened. The stuffed saber wasn't in there. She even looked all over the place, but couldn't find it anywhere. She almost lost hope when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Cheril turned around to see it was Shira. "I believe this belongs to you." The female saber was holding out the stuffed you.

Cheril respectfully took it from her. "Thank you. I've had this since I was little. I don't know what I would do without it."

"Not wanting to get into your personal business or anything, but why does it almost look a lot like me?"

Cheril sighed. "Well, she reminds me of a saber that risked her life to save me after my family was killed off by a pack of angry wolves. At first, I was afraid of her because I had no idea what sabers were capable of. After some time, I grew used to her. A week after everything happened, she took me to another tribe where I met Elphina. The old female Elder has been my caretaker ever since. She even made me this stuffed toy."

"Did you ever find out what that saber's name was?"

"No. All I remember was that she was a female." Cheril shook her head. "You probably wouldn't even know who she was. Might not even be her. You look a lot different."

"Might have something to do with my pregnancy."

"No. I don't remember the saber I knew having shell earrings in only one ear. In fact, she didn't have earrings at all."

Shira sighed. She didn't always have earrings in one ear. That was the truth. Once she joined Gutt's crew, Raz had helped to place them in there so she could look more like a pirate. Another memory also came into place. She was wanted out of a pack for a certain reason. She didn't choose to leave. She was forced to leave. Why, someone would ask? Because she helped a young girl find safety in a new place. Could it be that Cheril may be that same girl? Shira shook her head at the thought. It couldn't be her. This girl was all grown up. She was practically a woman now. Maybe that's who she is. The problem is Shira couldn't remember the name of the little girl she saved from...now she can't even remember what it was she saved the girl from.

Shira walked back over to Diego, who shot to his four paws to help her lie down. Shira rolled her eyes. "Diego, I'm not carrying that much weight. You don't always have to help me lie down."

"I know, but I am a gentleman," Diego said, "So what was going on over there?"

"Nothing. I just gave her that toy back and she thanked me for giving it back to her. Forgive me for saying this, but she's kind of too old for toys."

"You're never too old for anything."

Shira didn't know if she should tell Diego that Cheril looked familiar to her in a way, but she decided against it and started falling asleep.

Julian started putting leaves and hay on the ground to make a bed for him and Peaches. He looked to see his wife helping the younger female human pick up the rest of her belongings that fell out of her pack. His expression turned sour as he stared at the human. He didn't want to relive what happened in his past. Whatever happened caused him to never trust humans again. Wouldn't even look them in the eyes. He continued to fix the bed.

Peaches turned around and saw Julian with a not so nice expression on his face. She knew things were different with him ever since the humans came into the equation. It was time they had a chat.

Peaches walked over to her husband. "Julian, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, sure, babe," Julian said, "Hey, can you hand me those leaves over there?"

Peaches picked the leaves up and handed them to Julian. "I've noticed you've been acting different since the humans joined up with us."

"So?"

"So you're not being very nice and just accepting them until we can stop this storm. You even voted to make them go and that's just not like you."

"Peaches, I've just had bad experiences with humans. You don't know what they're capable of."

"Some humans aren't like that. Those humans that are with us right now seem peaceful. At least that's my opinion of them." Julian continued making the bed, pretending not to hear his wife's opinion. Peaches sighed. "What happened that made you hate them so much?"

"They attacked my family."

"I'm sure your family was able to fight back. You know how us mammoths are. Some of us lose our temper easily."

"It was different with me. My dad was taken from me by humans."

Peaches eyes widened. She wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Oh, I'm sorry, Julian. I didn't know. You never really told me much about your dad except that he was a really good guy to hang around with."

Julian lowered his head. "He was. Can we just drop the subject? I don't wanna talk about savages anymore."

"Stop calling them that. Not all humans are the same. Maybe if you just get to know them, you-"

"I don't want to get to know them! As long as they stay away from me, I'll be fine!"

Slapping Julian in the back of the head, Peaches pulled his ear. "As long as their staying with us, you are gonna respect them as if they are a part of this herd. Do you understand me?"

Julian groaned. "Yes, I understand. Can you let go of my ear now?"

"Ask me nicely."

Julian sighed. "Can you please let go of my ear?"

"Yes, I can." Peaches let go of her husband's ear.

Julian went back to fixing up the bed. He wished that Peaches would understand why he didn't feel comfortable talking about what happened to his father. That's not really the big reason why he hated humans. There was something else that got him to the point where humans were really savages.

Gertie and Roger were sitting upon the tree, waiting for their dad to return to dinner. Ever since Gertie started placing herself in solitude, Roger has pretty much kept his distance from her. He wasn't willing to get pushed off the tree or punched in the face. He could tell that something was wrong with his sister, but he was too afraid to ask. He was actually out with her in the Dinosaur World on the day she started acting the way she was now. They were just spending some time together as brother and sister and suddenly Gertie flew off somewhere and when she came back, she started acting like a brat. Roger tried to ask her what was wrong, but she told him to mind his own business and flew off without him. He had plans to tell his dad when it all started, but he wasn't sure if he should or not.

Roger lost his train of thought when he looked to see Kai kicking the tree. The young male bird looked down at the human. "Um, excuse me. Do you mind not kicking this tree? We're trying to settle down for the night."

"Hey, tell that big fat dude to come down here," Kai said.

"My dad's not here at the moment."

"No, I'm talking about the other one up there with you."

"You mean my sister?"

"Wait. That's a girl?"

"Yeah."

"I believe I just called a girl fat. She is, though. Why is she acting like a tomboy? Why is she so fat? She should start eating her fair share more often."

Gertie started growling and flew herself to Kai. She began punching him. "You think I'm fat? Well, you should look at yourself." She continued punching him until she saw a puddle of mud and slammed Kai in it. She placed her foot on his stomach and scooped up a pile of mud in her hand. "Eat this!" She started stuffing mud in his face, missing his mouth but enjoying the torture she was giving him. "Who's gonna be fat after this once I make you eat a bunch of dirt?"

Roger couldn't stand seeing what he saw any longer as he flew down and pushed Gertie off Kai. "Enough, Gertie. This is getting ridiculous. First it's ignoring everyone and now you just wanna pick a fight. I can't stand it anymore. Either tell Dad and I what's going on or just go and crawl into your little hole of darkness."

Gertie got all up in Roger's face, looking him straight in the eyes. "All I want is to be alone and think. Is that too much to ask?"

Roger shook his head. "No, and if that's what you wanna do, go ahead."

"Thank you." Gertie flew back on the tree.

Gavin came back with a wooden bowl full of fish. "Roger, what's going on here? I kept hearing a lot of yelling."

"Dad, I'm really starting to worry about Gertie," Roger said.

"Roger, when she's ready to talk to us, she'll come to us. Otherwise, just leave her alone. Give her some space." Gavin looked to see Kai lying in the mud. "Some humans act like pigs." Gavin flew back up in the trees.

Roger helped Kai out of the mud. "Sorry about my sister. She's been in a mood lately."

"I've never been scared of a girl before, but she scares me," Kai said.

"You'll get used to it." Roger patted Kai on the back.

Sid had just finished making the fire for everyone while Manny placed the last log on the ground for Sid to sit on. The male mammoth sat next to him as well, sighing peacefully.

"You know, Sid, you do a real good job making a fire for all of us at night," Manny said.

"Thanks, Manny," Sid said, "I just feel as though being Lord of the Flames really pays off."

"Well, might I say that your tail's on fire again."

"What?" Sid looked to see that his tail was indeed on fire. Diego knew the still and stopped it by smacking his paw on the sloth's tail, making the flames stop. Sid sighed in relief. "Thanks, Diego. What would I ever do without you?"

"You would probably get third degree burns all over your body," Diego said.

"Where did you learn to make fire, Sid?" Cheril asked, sitting with the herd.

"All I did was rub a stone against a cave wall," Sid said, "It made sparks and hit some sticks and poof it made fire."

"That's not how humans do it. I guests animals and humans are just different from each other in certain ways."

Roshan had returned with some fish, seeing that a fire had already been made. "Hey, Kai, thanks for making a fire."

"Kai didn't make it," Cheril said, "Sid did."

"You mean the sloth?"

"Yep," Manny said, placing his trunk around Sid's shoulder, "This guy."

Roshan didn't speak, but turned around to keep his eyes away from the herd. Cheril started becoming concerned for her friend. "Roshan, are you okay?"

A flashback suddenly came up into Roshan's mind.

 **FLASHBACK:**

 _It was inside a cave. A fire was keeping the three mammals and the baby warm. The sloth was bragging about how he is known as the first mammal to know how to make fire._

" _From now on you are to refer to me as Sid, Lord of the Flames," the sloth said proudly._

" _Hey, Lord of the Flames," the mammoth said, "Your tail's on fire."_

" _What?" The sloth named Sid looked to see that his tail was on fire and began running around the cave in a frenzy, not knowing what to do._

 **END OF FLASHBACK.**

Roshan shook his head. He then noticed that Cheril was calling his name. Turning around, he looked at his concerned friend. "Yeah, yeah, I'm alright. Nothing to worry about."

"Did you have another flashback?" Cheril asked.

"Yeah, but it's no big deal." He started making his way towards the fire with his bucket full of fish. "Hey, Kai, help me cook up these fish."

Manny walked over to Cheril. "Is he alright?"

Cheril sighed. "I don't know. Whenever he does that, I know a flashback comes into his mind. It doesn't normally happen unless something from his past has returned to remind him about something. It worries me."

"Does he ever talk about them?" Sid asked.

"Sometimes, but most of them makes him feel uncomfortable. I really need to figure out what's going on with him." Cheril started walking away, grasping her bag.

Sid looked at Manny. "You know, Manny, I remember the days when you, me and Diego took that little human baby home."

"You mean Pinky?" Manny asked.

"Yes. That's what we always called him. Pinky. The cutest little guy. We saved his life and then took him back to his tribe. I can't believe that was how we actually met. Then we started the herd and everything is wonderful now."

"Except for the fact that we once again have to save everyone from this storm."

"Well, we've been through peril before, but that's normal for us."

"Who wants fish?" Kai asked.

"Finally, I'm starving," Shira said.

"I thought you were asleep," Diego said.

"I was taking one of my catnaps to wait for dinner. These little guys really know how to work up an appetite." Shira walked over and say down as dinner was already being served.

Later that night, the herd was relaxing around the fire as they were all telling stories about their past adventures, letting the humans get to know who they were. After Sid told the story about how he was abducted by mini sloths, the humans began laughing at him.

"Mini sloths?" Cheril said, laughing, "How did they end up kidnapping you when your back was turned?"

"He was actually asleep when it happened," Diego said.

"You tried to bring a thousand years of bad juju to them just because they wanted to throw you into a pit of the lava," Kai said, "I guess everyone has their own beliefs of things."

"Well, my father didn't seem to understand that," Roshan said.

"Roshan, I believe it is time you stop mentioning about your father whenever the subject of beliefs is brought up," Elphina said.

"Well, it was his fault that we've lost pretty much our whole tried. Plus, mainly almost all of our domesticated wolves."

"Wait a second," Cheril said, "I just realized that Scarfy isn't with us."

"Where did that dumb wolf run off to this time?" Kai asked.

"His nose must still not be healed up from that cold of his," Elphina said.

"Scarfy!" Roshan called out, "Scarfy!"

"Roshan?" said a voice behind the bushes, "Where are you?"

"Check behind the bushes."

Scarfy stuck his head through the vegetation and saw his friends. "Guys, thank goodness I found you. I've been trying to track you all day. Looks like you found Elphina."

"Where were you?" Cheril asked.

"Well, when you guys said to split up, I went my own way," Scarfy explained, "Luckily, I don't have to deal with that cold anymore."

"So this is your pet?" Manny asked.

"Manny!" Ellie said sternly.

"Well, he is. For goodness sakes, he was raised by humans."

"Well, for a pet, he was able to get through the woods without being eaten," Diego said. Shira smacked him over the head. "Ow! I'm just saying that's a good thing. I was giving him a compliment."

"It's okay," Scarfy said, "I know I'm a pet. I have been ever since I was born. My mother was trained to be a pet and so was my father. They trained me to be one and to always be loyal to humans."

"Well, how do we know you won't eat us?" Manny asked.

"Eating mammoths is against the tribe's rules. It can create lots of bad juju."

"So you guys have never eaten a mammoth before?" Ellie asked.

"Nope," Roshan said, "Not even sloths."

"What about sabers?" Shira asked.

"I certainly don't. I don't know about the rest of these guys."

Cheril sighed. "The tribe hasn't hunted sabers since I came along. I was rescued by one, so the chief decided to leave them alone in honor of one saving me."

"Well, that's nice to know," Diego said.

"Why do you have that law, anyway?" Manny asked.

"Why are you trying to get in our business?" Kai asked.

"Kai, be nice," Cheril said.

"Okay, I'll tell him." Kai placed an arm around Roshan's shoulders. "This guy here is convinced that a mammoth, a sloth and a saber saved his life and brought him back home to his father."

"It actually happened," Roshan said, "Why don't you believe me, Kai?"

"Because there is no way that animals are willing to save a human," Kai said, "They hate us because we hunt them for food. I'm wondering why that saber didn't eat you the first chance he got."

"That's because he cared about me. Why do we always have to have this argument?"

"Because animals are stupid."

"Kai!"

"It's true. Deal with the truth."

Elphina knocked Kai over the head. "You do realize that we are surrounded by the creatures that roam Earth?"

Kai suddenly found this out and chuckled nervously. "Looks like I made a complete fool of myself."

"See, Peaches?" Julian said, "This is why I think of humans as savages."

"Julian, I thought we talked about this," Peaches said.

"We did. I just chose to listen to myself."

"Hey, I got an idea," Manny said, "Let's all go to bed. That sounds like something we all need."

"I made some nice cots for you three to sleep comfortably for the night," Elphina said. She looked to see that Roshan wasn't with Cheril and Kai anymore. "Where did Roshan go?"

"This guy ran him off," Cheril said, slugging Kai in the arm.

"I didn't mean for him to just walk off," Kai said.

"You really hurt his feelings."

"How did I hurt his feelings? Don't you understand how crazy it sounds to be rescued by screwball mammals?"

"No, it doesn't sound crazy. Have you forgotten that I was in that same situation as well?"

"Well, I guess that makes you crazy, too."

Cheril rolled her eyes. "You know, you're supposed to be his best friend, but clearly you haven't been acting like it."

"What do you want me to do? Believe him? That's something I plan not to do."

"You don't have to believe him if you don't want to, but at least stop telling him that he's crazy to believe such things."

"Like that's gonna happen."

Cheril sighed. "I'm gonna go talk to Roshan." Cheril made her way over to where Roshan was. He was standing over by the stream, trying to look at his reflection in the moonlight. She walked over to him. "Are you okay, Roshan?"

Roshan sighed, throwing a rock into the stream. "I don't get it. The more I speak about it, the harder it becomes for people to believe it. Tell me one person that will believe me."

"I do."

"That's different. You say you were rescued by a saber and I believe that because I was also rescued by a saber who became friends with the mammoth and sloth. In your case, you're different. Other than you, tell me somebody else that believes me."

"Elphina does."

"She's an Elder. She believes in anything. Do you know anyone else?"

"Your father."

Roshan didn't say anything at first. He placed his feet in the water, thinking about the night the storm hit and saw his own father get striked by lightning. The memory will always be burned inside him. What he said to his father. Their final moments together wasn't how it should've been. Roshan was hoping that his father would die peacefully on his deathbed and he would be by his side until his final breath. Instead, he was destroyed off the face of the Earth by the Elders who cursed him for breaking his own law. That was not how it should've been.

Roshan shook the thought out of his head. He figured Cheril was worried whether he had another flashback, but he turned to face her. "I'm sure he remembers. The mammoth and sloth did return me to him."

"Than that's somebody other than me or Elphina," Cheril said, "Plus, I'm sure the other males believe you."

"They always said they did. I just wish Kai would."

"Why should that matter? Kai doesn't have to believe you. You just have to prove it to him. I can always pick out his secrets when he starts to act like this. The only way you can prove it to him is by thinking hard and remembering who those mammals were."

"I know who they were. I just don't remember their names. Well, actually I just figured out one of their names."

"Which one?"

"The sloth. In the flashback I had earlier, he said his name was Sid. He also called himself Lord of the Flames."

"Wait a second. That male sloth out there said the same thing. Maybe him, Manny and Diego are the ones."

"I don't follow."

"Roshan, what other mammals do you know that can make fire besides Sid?"

"Nobody else that I know of."

"Then they could be the ones."

"Cheril, let's slow down a bit. Okay, let's not go making assumptions before seeing whether or not they are the mammals from my past. Let's take it one step at a time."

"Okay, but you'll see that I was right. Just don't listen to Kai. You'll prove it to him."

Roshan smiled. Cheril has always been there for him whenever he needed some sense put into him. Now was one of those moments. He gave Cheril a hug, something that was not really like him, but he did it anyway. Cheril hugged him back. It was only a moment later when Elphina caught them. "What are you two doing over there?"

The two teenagers gasped as they let go of each other. Roshan gave a nervous smile. "Nothing's going on. We were just talking and Cheril had said something exciting that made me end up hugging her out of excitement. That's all it was."

Elphina smiled. "Well, if that's all, then I suppose I can believe it. Now come. It is time for bed. Another day of travelling tomorrow."

"Yes, Elphina." Cheril started walking back to the campsite.

Roshan took one last look out at the horizon before walking back over to the others. Another day was coming. It was best to get some sleep.

 **SWITCHBACK COVE UNBALANCED MOUNTAIN INSIDE A CAVE AT THE BOTTOM.**

 **TIME: NIGHT.**

That night, the Mammal Gang were spending the night inside a small empty cave. The night air began to turn cold as the three villains were surrounded by a warm fire that Marty made for them. It looks as though Sid is not the only one that can create fire. There's going to be some competition ahead for sure.

The three mammals were waiting for the boss to return with a friend of his. They kept wondering who it could be. Even Chippy was going insane to see who it was. His laughing and giggling was becoming uncontrollable. "Oh, I can't wait to see who the boss is bringing. Maybe it's a female saber that's as crazy as I am. Don't get me wrong. That mammoth girl was cute and all, but I need somebody that's insane and crazy like I am."

"This is no time to be thinking about romance, you idiot," Marty said, "Whoever the boss brings back is gonna help us get back at that herd. Besides, that mammoth girl was part of the plan to get rid of us."

"Man, I hate being the stupid one."

"Hey, Randolph, do you see the boss out there yet?" Marty asked.

Randolph nodded. "I see a faint light out in the distance. That's probably him. Act like men, boys. We're about to have some company."

Walking up to the Mammal Gang was an older human. His eye color couldn't be seen well in the dark, but he looked to have a long gray beard upon his face that went down to his knees. He wore a long tan robe that covered all around his body except for his hands. His arms were covered with huge sleeves. It wasn't like he was strong or anything is what it looked to be. He looked to be about the age of an Elder. In one hand, he was holding a torch while carrying a walking stick in his other hand. He wore a pack that didn't seem to have much in it, but it may have for the human.

The older human walked over to the mammals. "I sense you have given the herd their warning."

"Yes, sir," Randolph said.

"Including the humans?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I hope you didn't injure them."

"No, sir. Just a fair fight."

"Excellent. I knew I could count on you all to help do my bidding. Now I bring you the visitor from the other lands." The human moved away to reveal a male saber. "Boys, meet your new member."

The male saber had scars on the left side of his body, leaving that part bald. Not a single spot of dark orange fur could be seen. He had pretty much only one fang left since the other one looked like it was chopped off. His eyes were a cold green. Very horrifying for anyone to look into. Nothing was good looking about him. He looked bad and not in very good condition to do anything.

Randolph looked at the human. "This was the guy you brought in? Who is this?"

"All in good times will I answer your question," the saber said, "Just get used to me for now." He started walking away inside the cave.

Marty looked inside the cave, clearly unhappy with the guy his boss brought in. "This isn't who I was expecting, sir. How are we supposed to work with him if we don't even know who he is?"

"All in good time, Marty," the human said, "For now, we must rest and be prepared for tomorrow. Who that saber is will be a good mammal to get revenge on that herd. Especially when I will finally get revenge on the human that was part of the reason responsible for what happened to me in the past. Rest up, gentleman. Tomorrow is a new day." The Mammal Gang did as they were told and went to bed. The older human looked up at the moon chuckling evilly. "The chief may be gone now, but there's somebody else that needs to join him."

* * *

 **WELL, WE'VE MET THE BOSS, BUT WHAT IS HIS NAME AND WHAT DOES HE WANT? FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.**

 **ALSO, IF YOU ARE A FAN OF MY ICE AGE SWITCHEROO STORIES, I HAVE A POLL UP TO SEE HOW MANY KIDS SID AND BROOKE WILL HAVE, INCLUDING THE GENDERS. IT WON'T BE UP LONG SO VOTE FAST.**

 **WELL, SEE YOU FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	8. A Frozen Day

CHAPTER 7

A FROZEN DAY

 **SWITCHBACK COVE OPEN FOREST SPACE.**

 **TIME: MORNING.**

The morning became cold and snowy. Somehow, a cold front came in during the night and cause it to snow. Whatever is going on with the weather is causing everything to get out of control. When the humans and mammals woke up that morning, they saw that the fire went out overnight due to the snow falling on top of it. It was frigid and the humans began dressing warm to keep the cold from seeping around them. Even Scarfy dressed warm despite having fur upon his body.

Manny can understand why the humans needed warm clothing. They didn't have fur all over their bodies like him and the others did. He was confused as to why Scarfy needed anything. "That is one weird wolf."

"Manny, don't be mean," Ellie said.

"Ellie, look at him. He's a pet. He's been raised by humans his whole life. He's never went out to explore the world or anything like that. How is he considered an animal?"

"He was born upon the eyes of humans. That's just the way he is." Ellie started walking away.

Buck scurried around to start waking everyone up. "Alright, mammals. Time to get moving. We still have two to four days to stop this storm from happening. Chop, chop! Let's go!"

"I believe it would've been nice to give us five more minutes before waking us up," Sid said.

"Sorry sloth, but we're on a tight schedule." Buck looked to see the sabers still sleeping. He kicked Diego up. "Quit snoozing and get moving. You too, preggers."

"Stop calling me that," Shira said groggily.

"Well, the longer you stay pregnant, the more I call you that," Buck said, "Come on. We need to get a move on."

Roshan yawned. "Morning, everyone. Should we search for breakfast?"

"I'm starving," Shira said.

"You're not the only one," Cheril said.

"Buck, we can't just keep going on until we've eaten," Ellie said.

Buck sighed. "Alright. I'll give us another hour. Just hurry up so we can get going."

Kai picked up his spear. "I'm gonna go hunt for a hog. I'm in the mood for bacon. Wanna come with me, Roshan?"

Roshan shook his head. "I'm good. I'm gonna go find some fish. Be right back."

"Who would eat fish for breakfast?" Manny asked.

"Manny, it's not nice to judge," Ellie said.

"That's your opinion, Ellie. Mine is completely different."

"I don't know how it can get so cold overnight," Peaches said.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with a little snow," Julian said, "Besides, we can have a little fun on our way over there."

"What do you mean by fun?" Buck asked.

"You know, ice skating, snowball fights, the works," Peaches said, "Is fun banned from this trip?"

"No way! There's plenty we can do on the way there. Now come on. We don't have time to lose. Let's get going." Buck started walking away before he remembered that the herd was still trying to find and enjoy breakfast. "Oh, right. Never mind. You have fifty-five minutes left."

By the time breakfast was said and done with, the herd was once again on the trail, doing their best to walk through the snow. Instead of Sid being the one that needed to be caught up with, it was Brooke. For some reason, she started feeling tired and it's not the first time that's happened. It actually started happening the other day when Ellie and Shira were out on a walk and decided to let her join in. They had to stop at least seven times for her to catch up. After that, Ellie ended up carrying the female sloth on her back until they made it home to the rest of the herd.

At that moment, Sid was helping his wife make it to the others. He helped her on top of Ellie. "Until we figure out what's going on, Ellie will be your transportation. I'm starting to worry about you, sweetie."

"I know, darling," Brooke said, "Don't worry. Once I know what's going on, I'll be fine."

"I hope so."

Shira tapped Sid on the shoulder and leaned close towards his ear. "I'll talk to her later."

"Thanks," Sid whispered back.

"What were you two whispering about?" Brooke asked a bit sternly.

"Oh, nothing sweetheart," Sid told his wife a bit nervously.

"Why is it that you always have to lie to my face?"

"I'm not lying to you. Wow, I thought Manny had anger issues."

"Oh, so now you're saying I have anger issues? What an insult!"

"I'm not insulting you, babe. What's going on with you?"

Brooke figured out what she said to her husband and gasped. "What have I done? What did I say? Oh, I'm so sorry, Sid. I don't know what came over me."

"My mind is telling me that maybe you need some space right now. I'm just gonna go somewhere so you can think."

"I think I need to do more than just that." Brooke was on the verge of tears.

"Oh, don't cry. Don't cry, sweetheart. It's okay. I'm sorry. You don't have anger issues if that's what you're upset about."

"Sid, I think it's best if you give her some alone time right now," Ellie said.

Sid lowered his head and sadly walked away. Manny and Diego saw the action taking place. They had no idea what was going on, but they were willing to help Sid out.

"Uh, Sid," Manny said, "Diego and I couldn't help but overhear what just happened over there."

"I'm sure Brooke's just going through a phase," Sid said, "I know she didn't mean what she said. After all, every girl gets into some kind of emotional breakdown every once in a while. You know how it is." Sid say down on what looked to be a stump, but Diego and Manny knew exactly what it was. Unfortunately, Sid didn't. "Ahh, this feels so nice."

"Three…" Manny said.

"Two…" Diego said.

"One!" the opossum twins shouted.

Soon, Sid was shot out of the geyser and was shot up into the air. He ended up landing in the tree. Manny rolled his eyes. "Happens every time."

The herd continued down the trail until they made me it over to a frozen river. Diego walked over to Buck. "Hey, Buck. You have a suggestion for getting around the frozen river?"

Buck placed his mind on it for a moment before coming up with an idea. "Hope you guys know how to ice skate. We're going on a ride."

"Sweet!" Julian exclaimed.

"One of my favorite things to do," Peaches said, placing her and Julian on the ice as they started skating together. She looked at the others. "Last one to the other side cooks dinner tonight."

"Sure isn't gonna be us." Julian started laughing as he skated with his wife.

Manny and Ellie climbed onto the ice and started skating as well, following their daughter and son-in-law. At this rate, Manny was having a great time. "Whoo! If only I could have this much fun all the time."

"Not much to keep you worried anymore, is it?" Ellie asked.

"Nope. Well, maybe a little." Manny smiled while Ellie just giggled and playfully rolled her eyes.

Diego was helping Shira get across the ice as safely as he could. Every time he thought she would slip, he would catch her. "Careful. Careful. Easy now. Easy. Not too fast."

"Diego, I'm fine," Shira said, "My legs haven't given out on me yet."

Alejandro was sliding right behind them. "Now this is what I call fun."

The possum brothers were skating in circles around the saber couple, laughing as they did so.

"This is awesome!" Crash exclaimed.

"I know!" Eddie said, "I'm not even dizzy!"

"No, but I'm starting to get that feeling," Shira said, "Will you guys cut it out? I'm getting a headache."

"Get away from us!" Diego growled, scaring the possums off.

Sid and Brooke were having a great time. Brooke wasn't a good skater at the moment and she was always great. Sid was there to catch her if she ended up losing her balance.

"I believe you falling in love with me has made you less clumsy," Brooke said.

"My point exactly," Sid said.

Brooke sighed. "Sid, I do want to apologize for my outburst earlier today. I really have no idea what has gotten into me lately. This isn't the first time it's happened."

"Don't worry, Brooke. Whatever's going on, we'll figure it out."

"Oh, you always know just what to say."

Teddy was making sure Granny didn't slide off too far from the frozen lake. After all, it did go a long way.

"Are you sure you can get to the other side by yourself, Gladys?" Teddy asked.

"Don't you worry about me, sugar," Granny said sweetly, "I'll be alright. Granny doesn't need help unless she says so."

"Well, if you say so."

Buck was skating with Bronwyn in his arms. "Come on, sweetheart. We have to get to the other side or I'll end up making my famous vegetarian crab cakes for dinner. Trust me. That's the only thing I can make."

The dino birds were high in the sky, watching the others enjoy themselves and have fun. Gavin looked to see his daughter Gertie with a sad expression. He sighed. He may not have an idea of what was going on, but maybe if he spent some time with her, she might spill whatever's lodged in her mind.

Gavin flew closer to his daughter. "Hey, Gertie, I've been thinking about something for some time and I feel as though you and I don't really spend a lot of time together. Why don't we go and skate with the others?"

"Seriously, Dad," Gertie said, "We're flying reptiles. There's no reason to act like flightless creatures."

"Come on, Gertie. I don't get to spend time with you a lot these days anymore. Just this once. I promise I won't ask to do anything else if you at least do this one thing."

Gertie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine, but I won't like it."

"That's my girl. Come on. Let's have some fun."

"Do you want me to join you guys?" Roger asked.

"Sorry, son," Gavin said, "This is actually what I call father daughter time, if you know what I mean." He winked at his son, hoping Roger would take the hint.

Roger did as he nodded. "Okay, well you guys go and do that. I'm gonna go see what the others are up to." Roger flew off. Hopefully his dad knows what he's doing.

The humans were still on snowy ground. Kai had started getting bored and placed his ice moccasins on his feet. They just looked like plain old shoes except with rock parts at the bottom. He looked at his group of human friends. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna go have some fun while I still can." He made his way out on the ice and started having a blast. "Whooooo hoooooo!"

Elphina sighed. "That boy just doesn't know when to quit." She started making her way out on the ice.

Cheril tried to stop her. "You don't always have to follow him everywhere he goes."

"How else am I gonna make sure that he sticks with the group?" With that, Elphina took off, leaving Cheril and Roshan alone.

Cheril just stared at Roshan, not sure what to say or do. Normally, when she was left alone with him, she started to tense up and even shook a bit. Every time that happened, Roshan always thought she was cold and gave her his coat to keep her warm. She didn't really have a coat of her own, so it did help a little, but her blushing warmed her up more.

Roshan wasn't sure what to say, either. He was actually thinking about asking Cheril to skate with him, but he felt the same way she did. Tensed up and shaking some. Neither of them realized that each one like one another. Would they admit it? As long as they were too nervous to even say a word to one another, nothing would come out of their mouths.

Elphina looked to see the two still standing there in front of the ice. She sighed. "Come on, you two. We can't keep standing around. We have a storm to stop."

Cheril had no idea what to do. She knew the only way to cross to the other side is to skate, but there was a problem with that. She had no choice but to say it aloud. "I can't. I don't know how to skate."

Roshan couldn't just let her go on her own if she wasn't skilled. Lucky for her, he knew how to skate. He held out his hand. "Take my hand. I'll get you to the other side."

"I don't know," Cheril said, "I'm scared the ice will crack and I'll fall in."

"Don't worry. Remember what I said to you on the ship when it was falling apart?" She nodded, but Roshan knew she needed a little bit of encouragement. "Don't be afraid, Cheril. I'm right here. It's all gonna be okay."

Cheril knew that Roshan was trying to help her. She smiled. "Okay." She took his hand and together they stepped on the ice.

At first, Cheril kept trying to lose her balance, but Roshan always caught her. "It's okay. I got you." Cheril still had that feeling of unconfidence in herself. Roshan knew that all she needed was a little bit of motivation. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Are you sure about that? This does not seem like a safe thing to do. We might end up skating on a thin part and falling in that freezing water. You know I can't swim. I'll sink like a rock."

"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. As long as you're with me, everything will be okay. Why are you so scared of the ice?"

"I'm not scared of the ice." Cheril sighed, looking down. "I'm scared of water. I saw my parents drown in a flood years ago. You would think I would forget that memory, but I haven't. I have nightmares about that horrifying day. They placed me on an iceberg to keep me from drowning and they sacrificed themselves to save me. I can never get that memory out of my head. Every time I get too close to water, I think about what it can do. The fear just won't go away."

Roshan didn't really know what to say. He had always wondered why Cheril never went near water unless it was ankle deep. Her fear was taking over her. He placed a hand on her cheek, something that he felt was awkward but knew that it would get Cheril's attention. "I can help you get over it."

"You can't help me. I'll just ran away."

"You know I don't give up on people that easily. I'm gonna help you get through this. Starting with teaching you how to ice skate." Roshan placed his hands in Cheril's. "Let me show you how it's done. Just keep your feet flat on the ice. Once you've done that, just carefully slide on it." It didn't take long for Cheril to understand how it was done. "That's it. You've got this. Now the best way to get there faster is to try and walk on the ice. It's not easy. You will be sliding. Just watch how I do it." Roshan started picking one foot off the ice, carefully sliding on the other. He placed that foot back on the ice and picked up the other foot. Repeating as necessary, he figured Cheril got the idea. "You think you can do that?"

"I don't know, but I'll try. Here goes nothing." Cheril did exactly as Roshan did. She did it slowly at first, gripping on Roshan's hand so she wouldn't fall, but after a few times, she was able to get it right. "I think I'm getting the hang of this."

"Good. Ready to kick it up a notch?"

"I think so."

"Are you sure? We can keep going at this pace if you want."

"Let's try one more move to get us there faster."

"Okay. This move relies more of our toes. If you wanna run on the ice, you have to have good timing. You need a good running start. Watch how I do it." Roshan placed himself on his toes as he began placing one set of toes on the ice and putting it down. He placed the other set of toes down as he picked up his other leg. After a few more tires, he started going faster, but he forgot that Cheril was holding his hand. He caught her by placing both arms around her back as she held onto his arms, keeping herself steady as Roshan helped to keep her balance. "You okay?"

"I'm good. In fact, I'm ready to give it a try."

"You got it."

"This time, I wanna do it on my own."

"Are you sure?"

"I got this."

Roshan held Cheril steady while having her stand on her toes. She tried it out a few times as she was able to get the hang of it. Roshan smiled. "You're a fast learner."

"I learn from the best."

"Ready to let go?"

"Oh, are we already at that part?"

"If you're not ready, that's alright. I'm not gonna force you. I figured you just needed a little motivation."

Cheril took a deep breath. "You can do it."

"I can do what?"

"Let me go."

"Are you sure?" Cheril nodded. "Okay. On three. One...two...three."

At that moment, Roshan let Cheril go. At first, she looked as though she would lose her balance, but she regained it and finally placed herself on her toes and did exactly what Roshan showed her how to do. Pick up one foot, stand on you toes. Pick up the other foot, stand on the other set of toes. She smiled, seeing that she was getting the hang of it. She started laughing in joy. "Whoo! This is amazing! I feel so alive! I haven't felt this way In so long. Whoo hoo!"

Roshan smiled. He had remembered all the moments Cheril had feared even going near the river. He didn't understand why until she finally told him. He also remembered that she kept herself distant from the edges of the ship and the ice float when they were out on the ocean. It must have been hard to see the people you care about die right in front of you in order to keep the important one's safe. Roshan could relate to that. He never knew his mother. His father always told him that his mother died in a saber attack when he was a baby. He was in the middle of learning how to walk at the time it happened. It was what lead him to the three mammals in the first place. Mammals that he was still searching for and knew that one day he would find them.

Roshan knew he had zoned out a bit. The exciting cheering in Cheril's voice had some him up. He looked at her. "How do you feel know, Cheril?"

"I feel like I've been reborn," Cheril said. She continued sliding on the ice and was making her way to the other side. While she did, the ice started to crack, but she made it to the snow covered ground before it could do anything else. Unfortunately, nobody noticed the crack. Cheril waved to Roshan. "Come on, Roshan. You're the only person still out on the ice."

"That means you have to make is dinner tonight," Sid called out.

Roshan shrugged. "Well, if I was gonna be the only one out here, might be for a good reason." He started skating back towards the others, but when he was almost to the mammals, he was heading his way towards the crack. Not seeing it, he slid on top of it, causing it to crack. "Uh, oh." At that moment, Roshan fell in the water. "Whoa!"

Everyone gasped. Cheril tried running back out on the ice, but Ellie held her back. Manny rushed over, sticking his trunk into the water and in the nick of time, he pulled Roshan out of the water. The male mammoth sat the boy down in the snow, where he began coughing up freezing water and gasping for air.

Cheril rushed to her friend's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Roshan, are you okay?"

Roshan coughed up the last bit of water before nodding his head. "Yeah, I'm alright."

Cheril sighed. "Now you know why I was afraid. I knew it could happen, but I wasn't wanting it to happen to you."

"I wouldn't have wanted it to happen to you, either. It's okay, though. I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

"Roshan, there's always something to worry about. We're not part of a tribe anymore. The rate that we're going, we have to depend on each other to survive."

"You might think that, but I don't need to depend on anybody," Kai said, "I can take care of myself."

"Thanks for letting us know that, Kai," Roshan said.

"Okay, can we move on now? Roshan's fine and we finally made it through all this, so let's go." Kai started walking away.

Cheril shook her head. "What is wrong with him?"

"I wonder that myself," Elphina said, "That boy needs to know how to be respectful to others."

"I'm afraid he's right, though," Buck said, "We need to get a move on. Let's go, mammals."

When Roshan stood up, he began shivering, but shrugged it off and continued forward. Cheril noticed this and placed a fur blanket over his shoulders. Roshan will admit that it made him feel warm, but Cheril really made him feel warmer. Was he really just thinking that? While he was out on his own when making it back to the herd, he had a flashback about the three same mammals who saved him when he was just a baby. The ground sloth in his vision was skating while the mammoth and saber were having trouble. Now that he's seen it, the ground sloth from his past did resemble Sid. He shook his head. Remember what he's told himself. Never make assumptions until you make sure it's true. He had to remember his own advice.

All the bones in his body began to shake due to the cold water. Hopefully night will come soon and they can make a nice, warm fire to sit in front of.

Julian was snickering to himself. "Serves him right. Savages were not meant to skate on the ice."

"Julian, you're hitting that last nerve of mine," Peaches said, "If you don't stop this behavior, I'm gonna do something about it."

"Peaches, you know as well as I do that I don't trust them. There are times when I can have trust issues as well."

"You're starting to act like my dad."

"Well, at least you have a dad."

Peaches eyes widened. She couldn't say anything against that. It is true that her father was pretty much the only fatherly role model Julian had since his father was gone. That doesn't mean he has the right to be rude. "Listen, I'm sorry about what humans did to your father in the past and I know you miss him, but there's a time when you just have to move on. You can't change the past, but you can make a difference for the future. There's always a way to fix a problem when it messes up the first time."

"How am I gonna fix a problem from the past?"

"By making friends with humans in the future. They might be able to prove you wrong."

"I'm not making friends with humans. Or should I call them savages."

Peaches finally had enough of Julian's attitude and smacked him over the back of the head. "I'm getting sick and tired of you calling them that. Start acting right. I'd figured one of these days I would have to tell our children that, and here I am telling my husband that."

"What is going on with you two?" Ellie asked as she and Manny walked over to their daughter and son-in-law, "You two are over here arguing like an old married couple."

"I thought we were the ones that was supposed to do that," Manny said.

"It's nothing, guys," Peaches said, "Julian just wants to act like a little kid just because he doesn't wanna move on from the past."

"That is not true," Julian said.

"Really? Well, why do you keep calling them savages?"

"Calling who savages?" Manny asked.

"Nobody!" Julian shouted.

"He's calling the humans savages!" Peaches shouted.

The herd and humans gasped when they heard what Peaches said. The herd had no idea Julian felt this way towards humans. The humans were just plain shocked. Shocked to hear that somebody would think of them as savages. They never did anything to harm Julian, so why would he call them something like that?

Julian had no idea what to say. He didn't mean for that to be heard by others. He just looked at everyone and said, "I'm sorry."

"What have we ever done to you to make you think that?" Roshan asked.

"Probably just has a bone to pick with us," Kai said.

"I think there's something that we don't know about," Manny said.

"His dad was taken from him by humans years ago when he was little," Peaches said.

"That may be one thing, but there's something else. Something he's not willing to tell us."

The blood in Julian's head started to boil. This was the first time that he actually lost his temper. "Why do you care? You never even bothered to get to know me when we first met. I know you well, Manny. You're a stubborn, hard-headed mammoth who doesn't trust anybody. You don't trust humans, either."

"Yes, but when we allowed them to travel with us, I realized that giving them a chance would be the right thing to do," Manny said, "They've only been with us for a day and so far they haven't done anything that would be considered dangerous."

"Unless you count Kai for doing a bunch of stupid random nonsense," Cheril said.

"Hey!" Kai said, "What I do is not stupid and it's not nonsense. I will admit that it is random."

"Listen, Julian, if you don't trust us, I understand," Roshan said.

"It's not the fact that I don't trust you," Julian said, "I just hate you guys with a passion."

"Let me finish. I get that, but if you just give it some time and maybe give us a chance, you may find that we may not be who you thought we are. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Julian sighed. He looked at Roshan and said, "I'll keep that in mind." He started walking away.

Peaches made her way over to the humans. "Don't worry about him. He'll understand how important you guys are soon enough. He's not usually like that."

"It's not just Julian that's worrying me," Ellie said, "It's also you. I've never seen you guys have a fight like that before."

"Well, there are conflicts that come with marriage," Peaches said, "Nobody said it would be easy. Besides, we've had arguments before. Most of the times they're just playful arguments. There's nothing to worry about. Julian and I will solve this on our own. If I need help, I'll come find you guys myself." She started continuing back on the trail.

Ellie gave her husband a worried glance. Manny placed a trunk on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Ellie. Peaches is a big girl now. Give her a chance to handle this on her own. Marriage isn't easy for everyone."

Ellie smiled at her husband. "You always know what to say sometimes."

"Well, that's one of the reasons why you married me."

They both continued out on the trail with the rest of the herd. Meanwhile, Scrat was trying to slide down the ice trying to chase after his nut. When it slid off the ice and bounced on an ice wall, Scrat smacked into the ice, leaving an imprint of himself behind. Only the nut remained. When is there never a time when Scrat doesn't chase after his acorn?

* * *

 **WELL, ICE SKATING WENT WELL FOR EVERYONE. ALMOST EVERYONE.**

 **REMEMBER, IF YOU ARE A FAN OF MY ICE AGE SWITCHEROO STORY FOR COLLISION COURSE, DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON MY POLL FOR HOW MANY BABIES BROOKE AND SID SHOULD HAVE. IT WILL REMAIN ON THERE UNTIL THE NEXT UPDATE. AFTER THAT, THE VOTES WILL BE IN AND TALLIED.**

 **WELL, ENJOY THIS UPDATE UNTIL THE NEXT ONE.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	9. Bonding Between Humans and Mammals

CHAPTER 8

BONDING BETWEEN HUMANS AND MAMMALS

 **SWITCHBACK COVE WOODS IN AN OPENED SPACE AREA.**

 **TIME: DUSK.**

The day was nearly over. Sunset had finally arrived and night would soon cover the sky. Things were starting to take a little toll with the herd and the humans. For one thing, the intense heat from the day before and the chilling cold from that day were signs at how close the storm was. Buck predicted it by going inside of his mind and talking to the three weasels who always knew their stuff. He said the next thing to come was the shaking of the Earth which would cause an avalanche of snow to fall from a mountain. After that, a rainfall would cause a downpour and the storm would arrive a few hours later. Although they still didn't have a way to stop the storm from happening, they did know the series of events that were planning to happen.

The only way they would prepare for it is if they her some rest. Buck was prepared to make sure that happened. "Okay, mammals. Let's stop here for the night."

"Stop?" Kai asked, "There's no way we're stopping somewhere when we're at the rank of our doom. Sleeping is the least of our worries."

"It's the least of your worries, you mean to say," Roshan said.

"The storm is still some time off," Buck said, "Besides, if we're gonna save this is place, we need to be in the best shape possible to do it. That means getting a good night's sleep and getting some meals inside of you all. Okay, everyone. Let's start searching for dinner."

Kai groaned. "Why am I listening to a bunch of animals?"

"Why are you still here?" Julian asked, "You're the worst out of all the humans."

"Excuse me?"

"Julian!" Peaches exclaimed sternly. She turned her direction towards Kai. "I'm sorry. I really don't know what's gotten into him."

"Who are you again?" Kai asked the female mammoth.

"I'm Peaches."

"Peaches? Well, good to meet you. I'm Kai. I believe your husband and I have pretty much got off to a rough start. I do apologize for that. I tend to lose my head sometimes and go my own way."

"You seem to lose your head a lot of times," Julian said.

"You know, in my opinion, I think you seem more like a guy who's always happy and hopped up about everything," Kai said, "Right now, you're just starting to act like a real jerk."

"Well, thank you for reading my mind. For your information, I am a happy guy who likes everybody, but when you and those other things that look like you came along, that sucked the happiness right out of me."

"For your information, we are not things. We are humans. A species that actually has brains."

Julian scoffed. "You're more like savages to me."

"That's it!" Peaches shouted. She started pulling on her husband's ear.

"Ow! Ow!" Julian cried, "Let me go!"

"Not until you promise me that you won't call them savages again. You said you would give them a chance."

"Do you really think I would ever do that?" Peaches continued pulling Julian's ear harder. "Ow! Okay, okay! I promise!"

Peaches let go of her husband's ear. "Better. Now you better give them another chance or I'm gonna do something that you won't like at all. You got that?"

Julian sighed. "Yes, honey."

"Good." Peaches walked over to the others.

Kai started snickering. "Looks like you have no choice but to be good so you don't upset your beautiful wife."

Julian growled in anger. "Listen here, buddy. You better keep your distance from me and stop doing what you're doing. The next time you do, I will sit on you and hopefully kill you. Then I'll tell everyone it was an accident because that's exactly what you are."

"What? What am I to you? A savage?"

"No. An accident." With that being said, Julian walked off. This caused Kai's eyes to widen for the first time in a long time. No one has said that to him in so long. This caused him to lower his head down in shame and climb up the closest tree he could find.

Granny and Teddy were sitting on a long together while the old sloth was trying to eat a mango, but no luck. She handed it to Teddy. "Hey, Teddy Bear, chew this mango for me."

"Did you forget your teeth again, Gladys?" Teddy asked.

"I got rid of those a long time ago since I turned young and all. I figured I wouldn't need them."

"Well, it's always good to have spares."

Elphina had overheard the conversation between the two and walked over to them. "I see you are having problems enjoying your evening meal, Granny."

"It seems I do," Granny said, "There are days when I miss being young, but it's worth getting others to do stuff for me."

Elphina chuckled. "You're not the only one that misses the youth years. I once happened to be young and beautiful myself. Not many women live to be my age. That's how I was chosen to become an Elder. They knew I would live longer."

"Well, I wish I could live forever."

"I didn't say that now. Nobody lives forever."

"Tell that to Shangri Llama," Teddy said, "That guy will do anything to stay young. He's crazy about it."

"I know exactly who you're talking about," Elphina said, "Unfortunately, he's one of the animal Elders."

"You know Shangri Llama?"

"I know him from my mind."

"Let me tell you something, sister," Granny said, "You are one last who knows everything about the world."

"Why, thank you, Granny," Elphina said.

"Call me Gladys. Anybody who's as wise as you deserves to call people by their real names. I don't like these guys much except for my bunny man here. The rest of them are plain boring. Always trying to keep me out of harm's way and all that nonsense. I ain't that old. I can take care of myself. As long as I get somebody to mash up my food for me, I can go on my own."

"There is a better way to feed yourself without relying on somebody else's teeth."

"How so?"

"Allow me to demonstrate." Elphina collected a wooden bowl, a stick with a flat end, and the mangoes Granny had. She placed the fruit inside the bowl and used the stick to mash up the fruit. Once she was done, she took out a wooden spoon and handed it to Granny. "That's how it's done."

"Amazing," Teddy said, "Now you won't need anybody to chew your food for you."

"I'll still need somebody to mash it for me," Granny said. She looked at Elphina. "Thank you, dear. Now I won't go hungry."

"I don't see anything that would be considered so bad about you guys. You know how to make life easier."

"It's my pleasure," Elphina said.

Ellie watched the two elders and Teddy getting along while she looked to see Cheril talking to Brooke and Shira. Cheril had taken a liking to the herd since they first joined up together. Not one complaint out of her. She only groans and sighs about the way Kai's been acting, but nonetheless, she's been pretty good. Not much of a conversationalist, but she seems to always have her eyes on Roshan. Maybe that was also the same way before the herd met the humans. She could imagine Cheril and Roshan happily being together forever more with no worries and some freedom outside the tribe life. She walked over there to talk to them herself.

When she did, Ellie saw they were laughing about something. She walked over to the three. "What's going on?"

Shira continued laughing as she said, "You will not believe this girl. She may not show it, but I think she can kick somebody's butt without hesitation."

"What are you talking about?"

"I may have accidentally hit this guy I knew from my tribe in the place where the sun doesn't shine," Cheril said. Ellie started laughing. The human girl sighed. "He was trying to hit on me. What's the big deal? It's not like I beat him up or anything. I'm not that strong."

"What do you mean not that strong?" Brooke asked.

"I mean that I don't have what it takes to kick somebody down and have a good, clean fight. I'm not that kind of girl. I don't use violence to solve everything."

"Say it, sister," Ellie said.

"So how do you stand up for yourself?" Shira asked.

"Using words, but I've never been able to do that, either," Cheril said.

"How about using both?"

"Shira, don't try to put things in her mind that doesn't belong," Ellie said.

"I have pregnancy brain, Ellie," Shira said, "It makes me say what I think. I better go ahead and say to not get on my bad side."

Ellie signed. "Well, Cheril is right. Violence isn't the way to solve certain problems. I will admit, though. Kicking that guy in the wrong spot taught him a lesson to never hit on you again."

"At least I'll never have to see him again," Cheril said. She looked up at the sky. "At least he wasn't as bad as the Lead Elder was."

"Who?" Brooke asked.

Cheril sighed. "In every tribe, humans have a Lead Elder that show guidance and wisdom to all the other Elders and the rest of the tribe. Some tribes are lucky to have a few Elders. There aren't many humans that live to be the age Elphina is. I suppose she was always the one being watched."

"So who are the Elders that she communicates with?" Ellie asked.

"Oh, those are spirits," Cheril said, "You never know who you'll talk to. Another human. A mammoth. A monkey. Sometimes it's a tree. You never know who you'll communicate with." Cheril placed her eyes on Roshan. "Some days, I think Roshan will become an Elder."

"Why do you say that?" Shira asked.

Cheril smiled. "He always has a lot of wisdom."

"Oooohhhh, are those goo goo eyes I see?" Ellie asked.

Cheril shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

"What Ellie's trying to say is that you have a crush on Roshan," Shira said.

"What?" Cheril laughed. "No way. That can never happen."

"The eyes never lie," Ellie said.

Cheril sighed. "Okay, fine. It's true. I have a crush on Roshan."

"I knew it."

"There's a problem with that, though."

"What?" Brooke asked.

"I don't know if he likes me back," Cheril said.

"Well, have you found any hints on whether or not he might?" Ellie asked.

"Maybe you've given him some hints that shows you like him," Shira said.

"Yeah, no, maybe, I don't know," Cheril said, "Besides, he may not even like me. Who would wanna go out with a girl like me. I have a good amount of fears and I don't think I'm capable of doing anything he can do. A lot of men think that girls should just walk around the village and look pretty."

"Well, I have to disagree on that," Brooke said, "Men should appreciate girls by who they are, not how pretty they are."

"Humans and animals are different in certain ways. Female animals have the privilege to do whatever they want and what can I do? Pretty much nothing."

"You don't even have a tribe anymore," Shira said, "Who stopping you from doing what you wanna do? You're free."

"I just feel as though I should do what I'm told," Cheril said.

"Sweetheart, you haven't lived a life unless you do something with it," Ellie said, "Let's do something about it. Tomorrow we are gonna give you a full blown makeover. We'll try it the old fashion way. If that doesn't work, we'll figure something else out."

"We don't really have a lot of time for all this."

"When it involves true love, you do whatever it takes to get that first kiss. Now let's see what we can do. Oh, maybe we can shorten your hair a little bit. Maybe put some curls into it."

"We should paint her nails," Brooke said, "I bet they would look beautiful in red. No, maybe pink would be a better color."

"A little face paint wouldn't hurt," Shira said, "Maybe we could add some eyeshadow and put some lipstick on. She'll look like a goddess."

"I thought we already did makeovers yesterday," Cheril said.

"Sweetheart, this is a makeover that you need permanently," Ellie said.

"Aren't I already beautiful? I really don't need to change the way I look."

"If you wanna impress Roshan, you need a little change to your looks."

"Not gonna happen."

"Looks like she's not gonna listen to reasoning," Shira said. She gasped. "Ow!"

"What's wrong?" Brooke asked.

Shira took a deep breath. "It's alright. It was just a kick. Nothing serious."

Diego and Alejandro rushed over to the female saber. "What's wrong?"

"It's alright," Shira told the boys, "It was only a kick. Nothing to worry about."

"Shira, there's always something to worry about," Diego said, "The cubs will be coming any day now. We need to be on alert mode at all times."

"Plus, we are nowhere near a doctor," Alejandro said, "Our eyes must stay on you at every moment."

"Daddy, for the last time, I'm having a home birth," Shira said, "There is nothing wrong with giving birth at home surrounded by everyone you love that you know will be there for you. I need to take control of the situation. Besides, I don't think this will be the first litter of cubs we'll have."

"Whoa, Shira," Diego said, "Let's not get too carried away. Who knows how many cubs we'll have with this litter?"

"This is why you need to see a doctor," Alejandro said, "You could have more than expected."

"I'm pretty sure lots of women have more than one baby and have had a home birth," Shira said.

"Ay, ay, ay! Why do you not listen to reasonings?"

"If you don't mind me interrupting," Cheril said, "There's no reason to worry. Why don't you ask Elphina to help out with Shira?"

"What are you talking about?" Diego asked.

"Well, Elphina is a midwife. She helped a lot of women bring new lives into the world all the time. If something were to happen, she can help."

"I don't know if you have noticed, but animals and humans are completely different from each other," Alejandro said.

"I can see that, but we're both mammals," Cheril said. She saw that Alejandro wasn't convinced and sighed. "I'll give you some time to think about it." She walked away, making her way towards the river.

Diego sighed. He heard Manny calling out to him. "Hey, Diego! Come over here!"

Diego looked at his wife. "I'll come back later to check up on you."

"I'll be fine, Diego," Shira said, "Go spend time with your friends. Stop worrying about me so much."

"Alright, alright. I'm leaving." Diego made his way towards the others.

Shira rolled her eyes. "He is such a worrywart."

"All men are when their wives are pregnant," Ellie said.

Diego made his way over to Manny, Sid and Roshan. He was surprised to see the young human there. "What's going on, guys?"

"Well, this guy here has never played hockey before," Manny said, pointing his trunk at Roshan.

"And this concerns me why?"

"Well, I thought that we could show him how to play. You know, teach him a thing or two."

"No offense, but why are you here, Sid? You don't know how to play hockey."

"True, but there's no harm in trying," Sid said, "Besides, if I can ice skate, I can play hockey, too."

"That will be very amusing to watch," Diego said.

"I don't think this is a good idea, guys," Roshan said, "After all, I did almost die today from an ice skating accident."

"That's because you slid on thin ice," Sid said.

"I didn't even notice it was there."

"Alright, come on," Manny said, "Let's start the game."

"You know, Roshan, I've been thinking," Sid told the young human boy.

"What?" Roshan asked.

"Maybe after all this is said and done, you and your friends can join the herd."

"Sid, I'm pretty sure Roshan has a tribe to get back to," Diego said.

"Gee, it sounds like you don't want him here," Sid said.

"I didn't say it like that."

"You guys do know I'm standing right here," Roshan said, walking past them, "In case you've forgotten, my tribe is gone."

"Well, maybe there's still someone out there that's still alive," Diego said.

Roshan didn't say anything. He just continued walking forward. Manny gave the saber a stern look. "Why did you have to go and say that?"

"Well, who knows?" Diego asked, "Maybe there is."

"You just don't want Roshan to be a part of this herd, do you?" Sid asked.

"Listen, humans and sabers don't really get along. Do you know what he's wearing right now? Fur clothing."

"That's what all humans wear," Manny said.

"Where do you think they get it from, Manny?" Diego asked, "They get it by killing animals and using the fur to make clothes."

"What do they do with the rest?" Sid asked.

"They eat it, Sid," Manny said, "Even I know that."

"You know, Manny, I don't see how you're giving them a chance," Diego said, "I thought you hated humans."

"I don't hate them. Yeah, I still have a few trust issues with them and all, but at least I'm not being stubborn and too overprotective about them all being here. I'm actually giving them a chance."

"That's not what Julian wants to do. He hates their guts. I just overheard him having an argument with that Kai dude."

"Okay, I think it's time we stop talking bad about them," Sid said, "I thought we were all going to play a nice, relaxing game of hockey."

"Hey, guys!" Roshan called out to the three mammals, "You three coming out here or what?"

"Let's go, guys," Manny said.

While the three lead mammals went out onto the ice, everyone else went to watch. Ellie smiled to see that Manny was finally learning how to control his stubborn side. Shira smiled to see that her husband was finally giving her some space. Brooke was happy to see that Sid was having fun. Julian rolled his eyes, but Peaches nudged his shoulder that told him to behave himself. Elphina walked up to the ice with Granny and Teddy as Cheril was following behind. Buck stood up in front while the possum brothers sat on top of their sister's back. It felt like everyone was watching a game.

Alejandro was the last one to arrive along with the dino birds, who were perched in a tree watching out at the ice. He stood next to his daughter. "What is going on?"

"Looks like we're about to get some entertainment around here," Shira said.

"I thought I was already entertaining enough," Buck said.

"Finally," Gertie said, "I hope to see some action. If somebody gets hurt, I'm gonna laugh and smile." Gavin smiled as he was happy to see that his daughter was enjoying herself for the first time in a while.

Cheril looked out at the ice. "Hopefully there won't be any accidents out there."

Elphina chuckled. "I'm sure they'll be fine."

"This is our chance to be announcers again, bro," Crash said.

"Can we, guys?" Eddie asked.

"You guys are gonna do it, anyway," Ellie said, "Knock yourselves out."

"Awesome!" the twins shouted. They stuck some pine cones on sticks and nodded their heads. "Let's do this."

Cheril looked around, noticing that somebody was missing. "Elphina, have you seen Kai anywhere?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's around," Elphina said.

It was true. Kai was around, but he was sitting up in a tree watching the excitement. Cheril could see him from where she was standing, knowing where he was. She sighed. "Looks like he climbed up a tree again."

"I'll talk to him later, dear. Right now, let's have a little excitement."

"It's a beautiful day for a game of hockey as three of the leading mammals are challenging a human boy to play along," Crash said.

"It's man vs. animals," Eddie said.

"Man vs. wild."

"Man vs. ice."

"Man."

"Man."

"Man!"

"Man!"

"Would you two quit it?" Manny shouted.

Crash rolled his eyes. "Okay."

"Meanie," Eddie said.

Roshan chuckled. "Are they always like that?"

"You won't believe how much they're like that," Sid said.

Manny started playing the game. "Okay, guys. Let's pass it around. Here you go, Sid." Manny passed the puck to Sid.

Sid used his hockey stick to stop the puck. "Wow, I'm better at this game than I thought."

"You seem to be," Diego said.

"Here you go, Roshan," Sid said, passing the puck to Roshan, who caught the puck with his stick.

"Not bad," Manny said, "You think you can shoot it into the goal."

"I think so," Roshan said, "How do I get it all the way there? It's pretty far away."

"Just smack the curve part of the stick onto the puck and let the puck do the rest."

"Okay." Roshan tapped the stick on the puck gently as if he were playing golf.

"Hey, this is hockey!" Julian shouted, "Not golf!"

Roshan rolled his eyes and placed his sight back on the puck and the stick. After a moment, he rose the stick up in the air and smacked the puck with so much force that it ended up flying in the air. It flew into Diego's direction. Unfortunately, he didn't duck down in time and got knocked in the head. Everyone gasped. Except Julian who was just laughing his head off. Kai, who was sitting in the tree, have a face of pain. Roshan gasped. "Diego! You okay?"

"Oh, man," Diego muttered as he fell flat on the ice. The hard fall caused it to crack and made Diego fall into the icy water.

Shira screamed. "AAAHHH! DIEGO!" She ended up fainting.

A little bit later, Diego was sitting close to the fire, trying to keep himself warm. Cheril had placed a blanket over his shoulder while Shira nuzzled his head to keep him warm.

Julian chuckled. "Such a mystery why mammals and humans hate each other so much."

"Julian, it was an accident," Peaches said.

"Diego, I really am sorry," Roshan said, "I did not mean for that to happen. I was trying to get it into the goal."

"Kid, I told you five different times that I forgive you," Diego said, "I know it was an accident. It was your first time playing."

"Well, that's the last time I ever try playing again."

"Oh, Roshan, don't give up because you made a mistake," Elphina said, "Nobody's perfect."

"I've never failed at anything before," Roshan said, "This has never happened to me."

"Roshan, we don't live in a tribe anymore," Cheril said, "Don't worry about failing. You can always do it again."

"Cheril, you wouldn't understand. When you're the son of the chief, you can't fail at anything. Nothing at all."

"Roshan…" Cheril hesitated. She couldn't figure out the right words to say. Of course she understood the problems Roshan has went through in life. Magstan trained his son to be a warrior and future tribe leader. A warrior he could continue to be, but a leader. She wasn't sure if she could see that happening for a long time.

"You don't have to say anything." Roshan stood up. "If you need me, I'll be over by the lake." He left the group, his head lowered and only looking towards the ground.

Cheril watched him go. She couldn't stand seeing him this way, but she understood that he needed some space just to think about things. She sighed. "I'm gonna head off to bed now. Goodnight, everyone."

The herd thought of that as a great idea as they all started preparing for bed. All except Roshan and Kai. The two of them remained where they were for the night, thinking about things and what the future holds.

 **SWITCHBACK COVE WOODS. INSIDE A CAVE.**

 **TIME: NIGHT.**

The moon shined bright as a fire was blazing inside a cave. The Mammal Gang was patiently waiting for the boss to return as he and the saber were having a chat.

Chippy couldn't stop himself from laughing. "This sitting around here is getting us nowhere. I'm tired of not doing anything. I wanna do something."

"Would you calm down?" Randolph said, "I'm trying to watch for the boss to get back."

"That's your main job is to watch for the boss. You know, we can do stuff, too."

"Ah, shut up," Marty said, "Quit your whining and stay quiet for five minutes."

"Don't tell me to shut up," Chippy said, "You're the one that's been talking the whole time."

"That's quite enough," said a voice from outside the cave. It was the boss, standing there with the saber that he brought back the night before. He walked up to the three mammals. "The time has come to bring up an ambush."

"Ambush?" Marty asked.

"Yes. It's time for not only you to get your revenge on those you hate, but for me to get my revenge on someone I hate the most."

"So a human guy like you hates somebody?" Marty scoffed. "Everybody has a person they hate."

"We all have a reason to hate. I don't just hate the boy. I hate his father that banished me years ago. All because I broke a silly rule. I am an Elder, aren't I? Why throw out an Elder?"

"Because you're nuts?" Chippy said.

Randolph sighed. "I want my revenge on the mammoth and no one else. He took something away from me a long time ago, and because of him, it's gone. Now I'm gonna make sure what he has now is gone by the slap of my trunk. A slap to the death."

"I just want revenge on that sloth girl," Marty said, "Eight years ago, I asked her to marry me, but she told me that I wasn't the one for her. Said I was too into my looks other than paying attention to her. Now I want her gone."

"I'm just here for the fun of it," Chippy said.

The mysterious saber smacked Chippy in the back of the head. "You're in because I need your help on taking down an old friend of mine. One that left my pack and joined a herd. What an idiot he is. Plus, he's a wuss."

"See what I mean?" the boss said, "We're all in this for a reason."

"Before we even think about starting any ambushes, we wanna know one thing," Marty said.

"What's that?"

"Who that saber is and who you are. That's what I wanna know."

"Why is that?"

"You've been leaving yourselves undetected. Either you tell me who you are now or I'll take care of that herd myself."

The boss nodded. "Very well. My friend, you begin first."

The mysterious saber cleared his throat. "I am Soto. I used to be a pack leader. That was before Diego almost killed me. Luckily, I lived thanks to the remainder of my pack. One day, though, they left. I've been on my own ever since."

"That explains the scars on your side," Randolph said.

"So what about you?" Marty asked the human.

"As I said before, I am after the son of the chief of the tribe I once belonged in, but after breaking a silly rule, I was kicked out," the human said, "As much as my name goes, I go by this one only. Although the human boy will know who I am. Once we go to ambush them tomorrow, I will reveal who I am and we will be stronger than any of them."

"What's the plan?"

"Sonny boy, you ask a lot of questions. The plan is simple. We find them and then attack. We figure it all out throughout the fight."

"Okay, now just one more question."

The human sighed. "What?"

"You haven't answered this one question for me. What is your name? Are you just trying to hide it from me or something?"

"I believe the time has come for you all to know. My name is Ansiso."

The human man known as Ansiso started laughing evilly. A new villain has entered the Ice Age. It had to come during one of the worst catastrophes they have yet to face.

* * *

 **HEY GUYS! I KNOW. IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I LAST UPDATED THIS STORY. I'M BACK, THOUGH. ALMOST DONE WITH MY SWITCHEROO STORY, SO I SHOULD HAVE TIME TO GET THIS STORY DONE. WE ARE ABOUT TO GET TO THE CLIMAX.**

 **I JUST WANT TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT THE POLL FOR THE NAMES OF BROOKE AND SID'S BABY OR BABIES WILL NOT BE ON THERE TOMORROW MORNING. TIME IS RUNNING OUT, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T VOTED, VOTE NOW.**

 **ALSO, JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE SAFE FOR TOMORROW. THE SOLAR ECLIPSE WILL BE HERE AND IT WILL BE ON PRETTY HECTIC. I JUST WANT TO WISH EVERYONE TO BE SAFE. WATCH IT WITH EXCITEMENT AND MAKE SURE TO WEAR THE PROTECTIVE SOLAR GLASSES.**

 **ENJOY THE CHAPTER.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	10. Ambush

CHAPTER 9

AMBUSH

 **SWITCHBACK COVE FOREST. AN OPEN SPACED AREA IN THE WOODS.**

 **TIME: SUNRISE**

Morning had finally arrived. The herd was still sleeping. Buck was snoozing up in the tree as well as Kai. Manny and Ellie were snuggled up together underneath an oak tree. Sid and Brooke were sleeping above them in the tree. Diego and Shira were sleeping near the frozen lake as well as Alejandro, who slept close to his daughter. Elphina was sleeping as she was also meditating in front of a pine tree. Granny and Teddy were sleeping not too far from her. Peaches and Julian were sleeping near the side of a small rock statue while Crash and Eddie were hanging upside down on a branch above them, sleeping peacefully. Scarfy was sleeping on a pile of leaves, but right next to him were Cheril and Roshan, who were snuggling with one another. The moment that sunlight hit, Cheril opened her eyes, only to see that Roshan was right next to her. Her eyes widened in surprise, but also shock. The next thing that happened was a loud scream that woke everyone up.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Cheril screamed.

Roshan woke up, only to scream himself to see what was really going on. "AAAAAAHHHHH!"

"AAAAHHHH!"

"AAAAHHHH!"

"Why are you screaming?"

"Why are you screaming?"

"You were cuddling up next to me!"

"No, you were cuddling up next to me!"

"You were both cuddling up next to each other!" Kai shouted, "Now shut up!"

"What is your problem?" Cheril asked.

"I ain't got no stinkin' problem. Now shut up so I can sleep."

"Sorry, everyone," Buck said, "Sleep time's over. We need to find some breakfast and get a move on."

"Thanks for waking us up," Shira said.

"Oh, yes, real nice of you," Brooke said in a rude tone.

"Brooke, normally you wouldn't respond like that," Ellie said, "Sometimes you would always say that it's no big deal. Everyone wakes up in many different ways and walk away pretending like nothing happened. What has gotten into you?"

"That's what I wanna know," Sid said.

"Nothing is going on with me," Brooke said, "I just need some time to myself. It seems as though I woke up on the wrong side of the branch this morning thanks to a certain sloth that wouldn't stop snoring at night. Oh, I need to clear my head. Plus, I need berries. I wonder if there are some near the stream." Brooke walked away to find some breakfast.

Sid sighed. "I don't know what else to do. Something is seriously wrong with my wife. I admit it. There's something going on." He looked at Ellie. "What do I do?"

"Let me see what I can do," Ellie said, "I may know what's going on, but I'm not exactly sure. I don't wanna say it at this point, but once I figure it out, I'll let Brooke tell you."

"Aww, thanks, Ellie. You're a true friend. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Don't thank me yet. I still have to find out what's going on. I'll be back." Ellie walked away and started making her way to where Brooke was. The female sloth was over at the berry bushes close by the stream. She was crying as she picked berries one by one, eating some as she picked more. Ellie was scared that Brooke would end up eating them all. She walked over to her sloth friend and placed her trunk on Brooke's paw. Ellie chuckled. "Hungry, huh?"

Brooke sniffled as she was wiping tears away with her sticky claws. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I know I've been acting rude and devilish lately, but I can't help it. My emotions just keep going out of whack. It's like my hormones aren't wanting to respond to me. I just feel happy one moment and then I just start breaking down crying the next. Some moments I'm sad, angry, frustrated, upset, and there are moments when I've just started laughing when nothing funny's going on. Oh, something is seriously wrong with me." Brooke continued to eat more berries. "Oh, I can't even control how much I'm eating. As a matter of fact, I can't stop craving for these juicy little sweet candies that are known as berries. Nature's candy is what I always call them. I don't know why. I've been craving for them since I woke up this morning. I don't know why, but last night, I was craving for pinecones and I started looking all over the place for some. Has that ever happened to you before?"

Ellie was starting to get a clue to what was going on, but she needed to be sure. "Has any other strange things been going on?"

"Well, I will admit that I have been vomiting every five minutes, feeling nauseated even when I'm walking, and I do tend to sweat more than before. Why do you ask?"

Ellie knew exactly what was going on. "Brooke, when was the last time you and Sid had some real alone time?"

"I don't really know exactly when it was. I do remember that Sid and I went on a date last week and for some reason, We came home hyperactive because we ate so much sugar at this restaurant and the next thing I remember things just went into the unordinary throughout the rest of the night. Then I woke up the next morning and I saw that I was sleeping on Sid's chest. I also remember waking up with a headache, too. It was just a crazy night, though."

"Has there been any moment when the two of you were very close to each other? Very close?"

"I'm pretty sure that was the only night we got really, really close. Don't think I don't know what you're talking about, Ellie."

"Well, Brooke, I have the answer to all your problems."

"What's that?" Ellie motioned for her to come closer and whispered something in her ear. The female sloth gasped and screamed. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Ellie plugged her ears. She was not expecting that. Once Brooke calmed down, she placed her trunk on the female sloth's shoulder. "It's a wonderful gift that was bestowed upon you and Sid."

"AAAHHHHHHH!"

"Brooke, calm down. It's gonna be okay."

"How can you possibly tell me to calm down? I was not expecting this. Oh, what am I gonna do? How am I gonna tell Sid? Oh, I feel like I have a fever of panic and wanting to sob my eyes out. I need to let my emotions out. All the hysterics need to march out of my mind." Brooke started crying, trying to let all her tears loose. Once she finally calmed down, she looked up at Ellie. "Do you know a good place where I can get a massage or a hot bath? Maybe just find me a nice place to meditate for a little while? I need to relax. I can't just stress about this."

"Now here's the first thing you need to learn about what's going on. Don't stress. It's not good for you or-"

Brooke placed a claw over her lips. "Don't say it out loud. Sid or somebody else from the herd might hear you."

"He's gonna figure it out sooner or later. You need to tell him sometime. You won't be able to hide it forever."

"I know. I will figure out the right time to tell him. I promise. Right now, I just need some time to think about things." Brooke walked away, placing a paw to her forehead.

Ellie walked back over to Sid. He ran up to the female mammoth. "I heard Brooke screaming. Is everything okay."

"Everything's fine, Sid," Ellie said, "I might have an idea of what's going on, but I'm not so sure about it yet. Don't worry. I'll figure it out as soon as I can."

Ellie walked over back to her husband. Meanwhile, Diego was helping his wife up. "So what can I get you for breakfast?"

"Fish," Shira said, "I'm craving again."

"Well, you're in luck. The lake isn't frozen anymore."

"Are you still feeling cold, honey?"

"No, I'm all warmed up now. Thanks to you."

"Are you sure? I kept feeling cold last night. I don't know why I kept shaking. Plus, I felt a little crampy. I think the time might be getting closer."

"Well, when the time comes, we'll be ready."

"Alright, mammals, listen up," Buck said, "It is day three, so be prepared for anything. We don't know the exact moment this storm will happen, but we need to be ready for it when it comes."

"What's the next stage?" Cheril asked.

"The Earth will shake, causing an avalanche to fall upon us. Hopefully, nothing will happen while we're at it. We must continue on until we get to where the eye of the storm is happening at."

"Come on, everyone," Manny said, "There's no time to waste."

"Hey, Buck, how far are we, anyway?" Julian asked.

"Not too far, but we still have a long way to get there," Buck said.

Roshan walked over to Cheril, who only stared at him. "You kind of freaked me out this morning." He chuckled.

"Sorry, Roshan," Cheril said, "By no means do I ever remember cuddling next to you last night."

"Neither do I." They stared at each other for a moment until Roshan cleared his throat. "Uh, I think we should start heading out now."

"Of course."

"You go on ahead. I'll get Kai."

Cheril scoffed. "That is if he'll wake up." She walked over to the rest of the herd.

Roshan walked over to the tree Kai was in. The rebellious teenager was sitting on a branch eating berries and nuts when Roshan started shaking the tree. Kai groaned. "What do you want? I'm trying to enjoy some breakfast in peace."

"We need to get going," Roshan said, "No time to waste. This storm could hit us at any moment."

Kai sighed. He tossed the food on the ground. Little did he know that Scrat was down there trying to bury his nut when the food hit him. He groaned in pain.

Kai walked past Roshan, purposely pushing him to the ground as he rushed by. He turned to face his friend and said, "Sorry, I'm in a bad mood right now. You might wanna stay away from me." He continued walking off.

Roshan got up and yanked on the back of Kai's collar. "You better have a better reason than that for pushing me down."

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Well, I do."

"Just leave me alone."

"I don't have to leave you alone if I don't wanna leave you alone."

"And why's that?"

"Because I will soon be your leader."

Kai scoffed. "You're kidding, right? You still think that you are gonna lead the tribe. Let me tell you something. THERE IS NO TRIBE FOR YOU TO RULE! NONE WHATSOEVER!" Kai took a deep breath. "When will you get that through your head? Everyone we know is gone, including your dad. It's his fault that all this is happening in the first place. You've lost the one person that you cared about in your life. I've lost more than you and you are too stupid to see that. Now I'm only gonna say this one more time. Shut up and leave me alone!"

"I was only joking around with you." Roshan released Kai's collar.

Kai stared at him, giving him a death glare. "I'm warning you. Don't come near me again."

"I wonder what made you Mr. Furious this morning," Julian said, "No offense, but it's starting to scare me."

"What?" Kai asked, "You think I'm gonna go on a killing rampage, Mr. I Said You Are A Mistake?"

"What's going on here?" Peaches asked, walking up to the group.

"I don't think he told you," Kai said, "Your husband here told me that I was nothing but a mistake."

Peaches gasped. "Julian!"

"I thought he would take the joke," Julian said.

"You should've never said that," Roshan said, "That's a bad thing to say to Kai."

"Julian, you have came to your final warning," Peaches said, "Say or do one more thing to Roshan and his friends and I'll make sure you sleep with my possum uncles instead of me. And you probably won't be playing dead, either." She started walking away.

Kai took a deep breath. "I don't wanna be bothered today. The first person that tries to speak to me, I will rip them apart." He walked away, with anger in his eyes. Roshan thought he could see tears coming up as well, but he didn't want to make things worse than they already were.

Roshan walked up to Julian. "Calling Kai a mistake was a big mistake. He's been through a lot and I think you just made things worse."

"What could he have possibly been through that would make me wanna be nice to him?" Julian asked, "In my opinion, he's nothing but a human who just wants others to have pity on him." He sighed. "I don't understand why I'm talking to you. You're one of the savages."

"Julian, I understand that you have hatred in your heart against humans, but I can assure you that my friends and I are nothing like the humans that attacked your family and took your father away. Why won't you believe that?"

"Because...because I'm scared one of you are gonna go out of your way and hurt Peaches or somebody else in the herd. I promised Peaches' dad that I wouldn't let nothing happen to her. I wouldn't even forgive myself if anyone else got seriously hurt."

"I see that you care about your family, and that's something I can't tell you not to do. To be honest with you, you're not the only one that's lost a father. I just lost mine. The last thing we did was fight. I never even got to tell him I was sorry. Sometimes I feel like it was his fault that this storm was happening in the first place, but sometimes I slap myself in the face for thinking such a thought since I know that he's my father and I care about him. Yes, he's gone, but he's always in my mind, making his way inside my dreams." He looked at Julian. "I'm sure you've shared some great memories with your father, though. What about your last moments with him? Were they good?"

Julian sighed. "He and I were playing hide and seek. When he found me, we started walking and hopping around. We even had a playful water fight together. It was a really good day. I had a lot of fun with him. Then my mom ran up and told us that humans were taking over the mammoth village. My dad hugged the both of us and told us to run. That was something I just couldn't do. That's when a spear hit my father. My mom and I had no choice. After that, it was only the two of us."

"What did the human look like?"

"He looked kind of old and he had long hair around his mouth. That's the only thing I remember."

"See? Doesn't it feel good to just talk about it?"

Julian nodded. "It does. Thanks."

"Remember what I told you about getting on Kai's bad side."

"I don't even want to talk about him. He's been causing a lot of issues."

Roshan sighed. "Well, that's Kai for you." He patted Julian's fur. "You're welcome for the chat. Let's get a move on."

The herd then started back on the trail, continuing to where the eye of the storm would take place.

Up in one of the high trees, Ansiso was watching the herd walk down the trail. He gave an evil chuckle as he made his way down. The rest of the group were hiding behind trees. Except for Randolph who was hiding in the pond. They all huddled together.

"Okay, everybody," Ansiso said, "Here's the plan on the ambush. Soto, I want you to surround the sabers. Randolph, you go after the mammoths. Marty, you make your way over to the sloths and that rabbit. I'll surround the humans."

"What about me?" Chippy asked, panting like a crazy person.

"You go after the others."

"And by the others, he means the rats," Marty said.

"The weasels and possums," Chippy said, "Got it. Can I eat them?"

"No," Ansiso said, "We're only surrounding them from all sides. We don't attack until I say so. Everybody clear on the plan?"

"Yep," Randolph said.

"Got it," Marty said.

"Yeah," Soto said.

"I always agree to everything, so yes," Chippy said.

"Let's move out then," Ansiso said as they all went their separate ways.

Back with the herd, Buck continued leading them to their destination. "Let's continue moving, mammals. This trail will get us there a lot faster if we keep moving."

Roshan kept looking at Kai, making sure he didn't blow up in a fit of rage. Cheril walked over to Roshan. "Are you okay? You've been out of sorts since we left the campgrounds."

"I'm fine," Roshan said. He was lying, though. He wasn't fine. After talking to Julian about losing his father, it was starting to bring a lot of thoughts to his mind. It made him start regretting ever saying what he said to his father.

"Roshan, if something's wrong, tell me now. I don't want you to have to tell me at the last minute when doom comes around."

"I don't wanna talk about it right now. Maybe later." Roshan walked away, crossing his arms over his chest to comfort himself.

Julian was walking next to Peaches. He looked at her as she looked back. Normally she would give him a smile and keep moving along. This time, she just shook her head and continued on. Julian sighed. "Babe, I hate seeing us argue like this. Listen, I'll go up and apologize to Kai. That'll probably get him out of his mood."

"You think so?" Peaches asked.

"It's worth a try."

Peaches nodded, glad that her husband was finally going in the right direction with the whole issue. "Go for it."

Julian made his way over to Kai, who was busy trying to collect his thoughts and calm himself down. He placed a trunk on the boy's shoulder. "Hey, Kai. Wonderful weather we're having, huh?" Julian chuckled.

Kai shook his head. "That's a lie. Do you see what kind of weather we're going through right now? For the sake of the Elders, man. We're trying to stop a storm."

"Yeah, I knew that was the wrong thing to say."

"You've said a lot of wrong things to me. It's not the first time." Kai sighed, rubbing his temples. "Why are you here? I thought I told everybody to leave me alone."

"You did, but I thought that maybe we could talk this out. Figure out what's going on."

"Why do you wanna know about my life? You're the one that called me a savage. You're the one that said I was a mistake."

"That's what I wanted to apologize for. I'm sorry I said all that stuff to you."

"Well, guess what? I don't accept your apology."

"Please, just give me another chance. That's all I ask. If we work this out, maybe-"

"You really want me to go off the deep end, don't you? I am about this close to spearing somebody."

"Go ahead. Spear somebody. I dare you." Julian gave Kai a look of furiousness.

"How about I spear you first?" Kai took his spear out and started running towards Julian. The young male mammoth snatched the spear out of the human's hand and snapped it in two. He then wrapped Kai around in his trunk, bringing him up closer to his face. Kai growled. "Don't think I'm scared of you."

"Well, you should. I try to at least make peace with you and this is your plan of action. Trying to kill others doesn't solve any problems."

"Well, you've wanted me dead since the beginning. Go ahead and end me."

"I have something better in mind." Julian threw Kai up in the air, causing him to hit Roger and land on the ground. Julian was about to stomp over to Kai and finally just end him, but Peaches ended up yanking his ear. "Hey, let me go."

"I warned you, Julian," Peaches said.

"He started it," Julian said.

"Well, you shouldn't have finished it the way you did!"

"Peaches, just face the facts! If that guy has the urge to kill animals for pleasure just to make himself feel better, he is nothing but a savage!"

"This has gone on far enough! It's time to face the facts! You're father is gone and there's nothing we can do about it."

"There could've been something that I could've done. What could I do, though? My mother told me to run with her and I did. I was only a kid who wanted to spend some time with his father and look where that brought me?"

"Well, you didn't do anything about it. I told you that was your final warning, Julian."

"I don't listen to warnings from the likes of you."

"Julian, you're angry and upset right now. Guess what? So am I."

"Why should you be upset? It's not like you lost your father or anything. His stubborn self is standing right over there."

"Well your father's down there in a place where he belongs!"

"Well that's where your father's gonna be at one day and so are you if you don't stop acting like him!"

Peaches gasped. She slapped her husband across the face. "Hope you enjoy sleeping alone tonight." She rushed away in tears.

"Peaches!" Julian started making his way back over to her, but was stopped when Randolph emerged from behind the wall of hedges.

Ellie gasped. "It's him."

"Stand back, everyone," Manny said, "At least he's come alone."

"That's what you think," Marty said, jumping out of the trees next to the sloths and Teddy, "Glad to see me?"

"No, not really," Sid said.

"Guys, stay together," Diego said before he came face to face with his old pack leader. He gasped. "You!"

"If I were you, Diego, I would be worried about myself," Soto said.

"Where did these guys even come from?" Crash asked.

"I don't know, but I'm totally freaking out!" Eddie shouted.

"Fear not, possums," Buck said, holding out his knife, "As long as we stick together, we can take these guys on."

"Think again, buddy," Chippy said, walking up behind the smaller animals, "I'll make sure you don't stick together."

"Where are these guys coming from?" Roshan asked.

"I don't know where that other saber came from," Cheril said, "I only remember the stupid looking one."

Kai took out his spear. "Whatever's going on, any enemy here is about to get sliced."

"I sense something," Elphina said, "Their leader is close by."

"Leader?" Scarfy asked, "Why do the leaders always have to hide out?"

"So we can make a surprise visit to some old friends," Ansiso said, walking up to the humans.

Roshan gasped. "Ansiso?"

"I don't believe it," Elphina said, "He's still alive."

"That's right," Ansiso said, "I told you last time it would not be your last time seeing me and I was right."

"My father banished you from the tribe," Roshan said, "We overheard some other humans from a different tribe tell is that you were attacked by wolves. You were thrown off a cliff."

"That is true, but I survived. After falling over that cliff, I've made a few new friends along the way. Now that we know that you all are together, it makes it that much easier to get rid of all of you."

"There's no reason to get revenge on us," Cheril said, "You were banished for hunting a mammoth."

"How did you even know where to find us?" Kai asked.

"I've been following your every move," Ansiso said, "I even followed you here. You see, each one of us wants to get revenge on all of you. Randolph wants revenge on the mammoth, Soto wants revenge on the soon-to-be male saber father, Marty wants revenge on the sloth girl and I want revenge on you, Roshan."

"Roshan has done nothing wrong," Elphina said, "Leave him out of this."

"Why should I? I can't get my revenge on his father. He's long gone now. The only person I can get revenge on is Roshan."

"I'll make sure that you are taken down and this time, you won't get back up," Roshan said, "My father would want you gone."

"Are you really gonna do it for your father?" Ansiso asked, "Last I saw, your last words to him were that you wanted him gone. You tried to harm him. He told you that he no longer wanted you to be his son. All because you refused to hunt a mammoth in order to prove your manhood. No wonder you are not leader of the tribe. No wonder the tribe is gone. It's not his fault. It was your fault. You caused your father to bring bad juju upon the tribe. All because you were rescued by a mammoth and his friends."

Manny's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The human boy who he had actually decide to trust to bring into the herd was actually the human that was the baby he, Diego and Sid saved.

Roshan had tears that began to well in the corners of his eyes. He didn't want to believe that everything that happened between him and his father was his fault, but Ansiso was speaking the truth. He brought out his spear and let out a warrior cry, running up to the elder man. Ansiso had a spear of his own and clashed it against Roshan's. Ansiso chuckled evilly. "And so the fight begins."

Everyone began to fight. Roshan turned to face Kai. "Kai, get Elphina and Cheril out of here!"

"No way!" Cheril said, taking out her bow and arrows, "I am not running away this time. I'm gonna stay and fight."

"Well, good luck," Kai said, taking Elphina by the arm, "Let's go!"

Scarfy started growling, trying to make Ansiso back off, but the old human started jabbing his spear at him. "You don't have what it takes to stop me."

Over with the mammoths, Manny was trying to keep his family safe from Randolph. "Get away from us, Randolph. What do you want from me? I never did anything to you."

"Looks like you do remember me," Randolph said, smacking his trunk on Manny's face, "I remember you taking something from me a long time ago."

"I never took anything away from you." Manny punched Randolph in the face.

"Manny, peaceful argument," Ellie said, "No violence until I say so."

"You took away the one thing that I cherished the most and caused it to be destroyed by humans," Randolph said, punching Manny in the eye.

"Ow!" Manny shouted in pain, "What was it?"

"The girl you took away from me in the past!"

Manny's eyes widened. "Margaret? She was never in love with you. To be honest, she said you were a total jerk to her when you both dated." Manny was about to slap Randolph before Ellie held his trunk back.

"Manny, what is going on?" Ellie asked, "Who's Margaret?"

"So she doesn't know about the family you once had before you met her," Randolph said, "I can understand why you didn't tell her. You were too afraid that she wouldn't understand and would walk away from you."

"Shut up!" Manny shouted, grabbing a log and smacking Randolph down. A cut was shown on his cheek, but he could care less. He punched Manny and the fight continued on.

Over with the sabers, Soto and Diego were circling around each other. Diego whispered to Alejandro. "Alejandro, get Shira out of here. Take her somewhere safe."

"I'm not leaving you, Diego," Shira said.

"You better listen to that husband of yours, preggers," Soto said, "We're about to do something that doesn't involve the word nice."

"You've always been the opposite of that," Diego said, "If I were you, I'd go back to Half Peak right now and get impaled by icicles again. After what you did, you don't deserve to live."

"What I did? You mean what you did. I've waited a long time to face my old foe that should be my ally. My lieutenant. Look at you know. You're a freakish saber in a freakish herd. You've got a couple brats along the way. I bet they'll always be considered freaks, too. You're a worthless excuse for a carnivore."

Diego growled. "Take what you just said back."

"You know as well as I do that it's true."

Diego started attacking by pouncing on Soto and scratching his claws along his enemy's face. Soto pushed him down and pinned him to the ground. Using his fangs, Diego bit down on Soto's arm, causing the evil saber to scream in pain. This gave Diego the chance to get back up and continue the battle.

Meanwhile, Alejandro looked around for a place Shira could hide in. He found a hollow tree and turned to face his daughter. "Come with me, Shira."

"Daddy, I'm not leaving Diego," Shira said.

"If you were not pregnant, I would let you stay and fight. Since you are, though, you need to be hidden." Alejandro placed his daughter inside the tree. "Stay here and don't come out until I come back for you."

"Wait, you wanna go out and fight?"

"Diego needs help. He cannot fight that saber all on his own."

"Daddy, don't do this. I might not have the strength to fight, but I do have the right to make a plan. Just let me help."

Alejandro didn't know what to do at that point. Making a plan to help Diego did sound like a better option than fighting the whole time. Just as long as his daughter wasn't fighting, he would approve of it. "Okay, what is it? How do we stop that saber?"

"It's not just the saber we need to stop. It's all of them."

Over with the sloths and Teddy, Marty was surrounding them with a spear in his hand. He grinned. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

"What do you want with Brooke?" Sid asked.

"I'm here to get revenge on her for denying my marriage proposal to her eight years ago."

"What?!"

"I never accepted it in the first place," Brooke said, "We were never even dating. You just came up and asked me and I politely said no."

"Well, that makes me feel a lot better," Sid said.

"Wait a second," Teddy said, "I remember you. Shangri Llama kicked you out of Geotopia after you tried to steal some crystals."

"It was only a few," Marty said, "Besides, I deserve to have everlasting life."

"What's wrong with being old?" Granny asked.

"Do you really think I want this glorious looking body and fur to go all to waste like yours did? I don't think so."

"So what are you saying? I'm an old woman who doesn't deserve to live?"

"It looks that way to me." Marty suddenly got whacked in the head with Granny's walking stick. "Ow! Watch where you swing that thing!"

"I meant to swing it on your head!" Granny continued hitting him, having the time of her life.

Sid leaned closer to his wife. "Do you think we should stop her?"

"Let her have a little fun for just a minute," Brooke said, "After all, this is only the beginning."

"I won't stop her from kicking butt," Teddy said, "She's got some skills."

Back over with the humans, Roshan and Cheril continued fighting Ansiso. It was basically an all-out spear fight, but whenever Roshan hit the ground, Cheril distracted the enemy by shooting her arrows around him. This caused Ansiso to grow angry. "That's it! I'm tired of these games! I want a real fight!"

"Oh, I'll give you a real fight," Roshan said, throwing his spear down and punching Ansiso in the face.

Ansiso chuckled evilly. "Alright. That's what I'm talking about. Let the real fight begin."

The two pretty much went into a hand-to-hand combat battle. There were moments where Ansiso threw a punch and Roshan either dodged them or got hit. It was the same way with Roshan trying to punch Ansiso. After a while, Ansiso ditched the punching and went on to kicking, causing Roshan to do the same thing. It was mainly like a karate match, but Roshan was pretty much winning because he judo flipped Ansiso to the ground, placing his door on the older man's back and pointing a spear at him.

Roshan was a mess. He had cuts and bruises on his arms and legs. There were a few scratches on his face. A bit of blood ran down his cheek and his eyes was swollen a bit. Ansiso was in the same boat, but not as bad as Roshan.

Roshan was out of breath as sweat poured down his face. He had a look of anger. "I'm only gonna tell you this once. If you don't call off your men and get them out of here, I'll make sure you're sentenced to death."

"You have no say so in giving anyone the death sentence," Ansiso said, "You aren't even a man."

"I'm more of a man than you think."

"Are you sure about that? Last I heard, you wouldn't even hunt down a mammoth in order to prove your manhood."

"Shut up."

"Who has ever heard of a man that never became one because he refused to kill a mammoth?"

"Shut up!" Roshan placed the tip of his spear on Ansiso's neck. He growled. "Call your men off."

"Why should I? They're having a great time defeating the herd."

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Roshan pointed to the others.

Ansiso gasped. All his men were down. Randolph was tied up to a tree by Manny, Diego had Soto pinned down tight, Marty was getting knocked out by Granny's cane, and Buck, the possum twins and the dino birds were smacking Chippy down. Ansiso was horrified. "How are they able to do that? They are nothing but a non-related herd."

"True, but they do what they can to protect each other." Roshan heard a tap and saw Shira with her father standing next to a trap. He grinned. "Hey, guys. I have an idea. Why don't we throw these so called villains in a pile?"

"Sounds like a great idea, Roshan," Cheril said, winking at Shira.

Soon they were all thrown in a pile. Randolph on the bottom to Marty being on top since everyone was bigger than him. Shira smiled as she and her father snapped the vine of the log and made it start flying toward the villains, sending them flying off into the distance.

"Bye, bye, dummies!" Granny shouted, "Hope to never see you again!"

"Well, everyone, I don't think we'll be seeing them again for a while," Buck said, "Now we can continue forward."

Before they can walk away, a light shake jiggled the ground a bit. Cheril looked towards everyone. "What was that?"

More shaking could be felt. Buck clearly knew what was going on. "The shaking of the Earth. That's the next step. Soon there will come an…" Before he could finish, a huge pile of snow came tumbling off the mountain, heading straight towards the herd.

"Avalanche!" Roger shouted. That was the herd's cue to start running.

"Move! Move!" Manny shouted.

"I see a nearby cave up ahead!" Gavin shouted.

Buck could see it as well. "Come on, mammals. Inside the cave!"

Once the entire herd was safe Inside the cave, the avalanche came down, covering the entrance in pure white snow. The rumbling stopped as everyone sighed in relief.

"Is everyone alright?" Manny asked.

"I'm good," Sid said.

"We're alright," Gavin said.

"Everyone's okay, Manny," Ellie said.

"Other than the fact that I'm freezing my fur off, I think I'll be fine," Shira said.

"Okay, everyone," Buck said, "We need to start digging our way out of here. Come on."

Soon the herd began digging snow from the only way out of the cave. Once they made a hole big enough to get out, they all walked outside to see the entire trail covered in knee deep snow.

"Great," Kai said, "That's just perfect. There's no way to get there now."

"Don't be a quitter," Buck said, "There's always a way."

"I'll scout out the area," Gavin said.

"Need a pair of keen eyes?" Roger said.

"I could use a pair." The two male dino birds flew off into the sky.

Roshan sighed. He was hoping to never face Ansiso again. Not after what he did all those years ago. Taking down a mammoth right in front of young Roshan when he was just a kid. Even his father caught Ansiso in the nick of time to tie the older man up and throw him in the Prisoner's Tent. Roshan sighed, having no idea what else to do at this point. He was trying so hard to be a leader. To lead the remaining people from his tribe and lead them to victory to stop the storm. No matter what he tried to do, though, he just couldn't do it. Maybe he didn't have what it took.

Cheril looked at Roshan, knowing the expression that was shown on his face meant something was clearly wrong. She walked over to him. "Roshan, are you okay?"

Roshan knew she was behind him. He knew she could sense what was going on with him. He sighed as he then decided to just speak the truth for once. "No, I'm not."

"Nobody expected Ansiso to still be alive. I guess we underestimated him. He's stronger than we know."

"Not strong enough to stop us, though."

"Are you kidding? Five of them against four mammoths, three sabers, three sloths, a rabbit, two possums, three reptile birds, four humans, one domesticated wolf and a deranged weasel? We'll kick their butts in a heartbeat."

Roshan smiled. "You always know how to brighten up a bad situation."

"I guess I have some sort of special touch."

The two smiled at each other as Gavin and Roger returned from scouting out the area. Buck ran up to them. "What did you find?"

"Well, we found the trail," Gavin said.

"And we have more good news along with that good news," Roger said, "We're only approximately fifteen miles away from the place where the eye of the storm is set to happen."

"That means we could make it there by tonight," Buck said, "There's still one more sign before this storm happens."

"Buck, it's already late afternoon," Manny said, "We're never gonna make it there by nightfall."

"Then we'll be there by morning."

"Where are we gonna sleep then, huh?" Gertie asked, irritated at the world.

"We found an open campground with a cave that's a few miles from here," Gavin said, "We'll stop there for the night."

"I don't know if I can walk another few miles," Shira groaned, "I'm already tired out from running."

"Here, I'll carry you," Ellie said, "Julian, Manny, put Shira on my back." The two helped Shira onto Ellie's

"Alright then," Buck said, "Listen up, everybody. We'll rest tonight, but we need to get to our destination by tomorrow morning. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sure, why not?" Kai said.

"Let's get a move on, mammal, humans and reptiles."

Soon the entire herd was making their way to their place for the night. Watching from behind was Ansiso, who was not happy about the little stunt the herd caused. He knew there would be trouble. Big trouble.

* * *

 **HEY, GUYS. I KNOW I'VE BEEN POSTING SLOWER THAN USUAL. SORRY ABOUT THAT. THIS ISN'T THE ONLY STORY I HAVE TO FINISH. PLUS, I HAVE A LOT OF OTHER THINGS ON MY MIND.**

 **WELL, HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	11. A Night to Remember

CHAPTER 10

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

 **SWITCHBACK COVE FOREST. SOMEWHERE ON THE TRAIL.**

 **TIME: SUNSET.**

The herd had finally made it to the opening ground. By that time, they were all tired and felt the need to go to sleep at that moment if they weren't starving. Buck and Diego offered to find food while everyone else stayed to help set up camp.

Roshan was making the fire that night since Sid was tending to his wife. He sighed as he threw a few more sticks in the blazing warmth. He had the feeling that Ansiso returning was his fault. In his opinion, his father should've executed Ansiso for breaking a law, but according to the law, that was part of the first ten pages that since slaying a mammoth was only a minor rule, there was no reason for the man to be exiled. Plus, Ansiso was an Elder at the time and the laws of the second set of ten pages stated that an Elder must never be placed under execution unless he or she had broken a rule out of the laws of the fourth set of ten pages. Yes, there were that many rules. It wasn't easy living the life of a human.

Yet all those things that Ansiso said about Roshan being at fault for his own father's death struck his heart like a bolt of lightning. Roshan couldn't believe that. It was his own father's fault that made the young boy do what he did. Magstan wanted his son to kill a mammoth, but Roshan refused and almost attacked his father in the process.

Roshan shook his head. He needed to get the negative vibes out of his head. He couldn't let this take control of him. He needed to remember the good times he had with his father. All the great things he's done. He became distracted with thoughts of the past almost coming to him that he almost forgot about the fire. It was starting to die down so he threw some more sticks in it.

Kai looked to see his best friend trying to get the fire up and running. He walked over to him. "Need some help, buddy?"

Roshan looked up to see his best friend standing behind him. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I took care of it. I just got lost in thought."

"About what?" Kai asked.

Roshan sighed. "About everything."

"Roshan, we knew this whole time he wasn't dead. Nothing can kill Ansiso and get away with it. That old man is unstoppable."

"I wish he wasn't."

"We all do. But it seems as though you can't get everything you wish for, huh?" Kai still saw a hurt expression on Roshan's face. "Something else is bothering you. What is it?"

Roshan placed his head in his hands. "He said it was my fault."

"I don't understand what you mean by that. What's your fault?"

"That my dad is gone. Obliterated from this world. It's my fault that he's dead. If those mammals had never came into my life, then we wouldn't be in this situation right now."

"If they hadn't of saved your life, you would've been killed by sabers. Where would I be in the picture? Where would Elphina be? And Scarfy? And what about Cheril? If you hadn't of been saved, you would never have met any of us. Especially Cheril."

"Why do you keep bringing her up?"

"Isn't it obvious, Roshan? You care about her. You like her more than just being her best friend. You're all she has."

Roshan sighed, looking at his friends. "I figured you would go to saying that those mammals never existed. That they never found me."

"Well, I've been thinking about it and I know that your father wouldn't make those rules for his own health. He always had a reason to do things. Anyway, I figured that talk would be helpful. I'm sorry about the way I acted today. What that mammoth guy told me last night just put me on edge."

"Who? Manny?"

"No, not him. That guy's not giving me any trouble. It's Julian that's been causing problems."

"Well, you've been giving him a lot of problems, too."

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"You've been making him mad by constantly going up and bothering him. You know some mammoths are short-tempered. I say some because not all of them are like that."

"Well, he got back at me pretty well. Told me I was a mistake and it set me off."

"Wait. He called you a mistake?"

"Yeah. Why should you feel any sympathy for me?"

"Because that's not the first time anyone's ever called you that. To be honest, your father was a horrible man. No wonder he was attacked and killed by bears. I know he didn't deserve to die that way, but he should've treated you better."

"Please. That guy wouldn't have treated a mouse any better. Just be lucky I had an income who cared."

"Of course he cared. He didn't like the way his brother-in-law was treating you. Plus, he always told me that his sister should've fallen in love with somebody else."

Kai sighed. "Well, you can't change the past. It is what it is. Like my grandmother used to tell me. Shut up and move on. Well, she actually said keep your lips sealed and keep moving along with life, but I'm pretty sure they both mean the same thing."

"Look, I'll talk to Julian for you."

"Don't waste your time, Roshan." Kai started walking away.

"Kai, I know what you're feeling on the inside. You're hurt. Mentally. You won't be table to hide it for long. I'm just trying to look out for you. You're my best friend, but you're also my brother."

"Good to know." Kai started climbing up in the trees, waving to his friend. "Goodnight, Roshan."

Roshan sighed. It wouldn't be too long before Kai finally just brought out his feelings. He couldn't bottle up his emotions forever.

Over with the mammoths, Peaches was starting to get comfortable. She closed her eyes and would've fallen asleep if a shadow hadn't of formed in front of her. Seeing that it was Julian, she gave him a stern look. "What do you want? I'm not in the mood to argue with you anymore."

"I know, but I just wanted to come say I'm sorry," Julian said, "I feel horrible for what I said to you. I was just angry and I ended up letting my anger out at you and I shouldn't have done that. I know you don't wanna sleep next to me tonight, but I thought I would just come by to tell you goodnight and whether we're sleeping together or not, that's not gonna stop me from loving you. You know that, right?"

Peaches sighed. "Of course I do."

"Well, sleep tight, Peaches." Julian turned to walk away, but looked at Peaches once more and said, "If you change your mind and start becoming lonely, you know where to find me." With that, the young male mammoth walked away. He looked to see Roshan walking over to him, a not-so-happy expression on his face. Julian waved at the human boy. "Hey, Roshan. What have you been up to?"

"Don't try doing all that nice small talk to me," Roshan said, "Do you realize how hurt Kai is right now?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you calling him a mistake. That is the worst thing you could ever call him."

"How is that a bad thing?"

"You don't know what he's been through with his own father. His father never cared about him. Never wanted to teach him how to be a man. Never wanted to help him when he needed him the most. Never wanted to do anything with him. Every time Kai asked him something, all his father would say is that he shouldn't bother learning because he was nothing but a mistake. Now you see why he's been acting the way he is now. All because you said that. What if your father did the same thing to you?"

"My father cared about me. Not once did he ever refer to me as a mistake." Julian sighed. "Okay, I'll go talk to him. Maybe just discussing this issue might help work things out between the two of us."

"Oh, he won't let you talk to him. Once you call him that, there's no way he'll ever forgive you. You're pretty much known as an enemy to him."

"Maybe if I apologize, he'll forgive me."

"You're out of luck, buddy. I think you just ruined your chances of ever trying to make amends with Kai." Roshan walked away, leaving Julian alone with his thoughts.

Meanwhile, the others are getting ready for bed. Ellie looked to see Julian walking inside a cave that was way too small for him. She gave him a sympathetic smile. "You okay over there, Julian?"

"Yeah!" Julian said, "I'm awesome! It's a bit of a squeeze, but I'll manage. Well, goodnight."

Ellie shook her head and sighed. She looked at her husband. "Manny, where's Peaches?"

"Over there," Manny said, pointing to his daughter underneath a set of trees.

"Those two haven't been married a year and they're already starting to have conflicts. I've never seen them have a fight like this."

"Ellie, marriage can be complicated. We had a few conflicts the first few months we were married and we settled our differences about it and let bygones be bygones."

"Manny, we've been married for twenty years. They haven't been married a year. We didn't go so far as to not sleeping in the same place together when we first got married. It's different, nowadays."

"How is it different?"

Ellie hesitated a moment before answering. "Some couple's don't know how to handle conflicts as well as we can. Before you know it, they won't be together anymore. That worries me."

"Just give Peaches and Julian some time. Let them think about and once they've seen what happened they'll talk about it and that'll be the end of it. They'll forgive each other and forget the whole thing ever happened."

"Don't you remember what Julian said about you? He said that you were going down there. Did that not even give you any kind of concern?"

"Well, I will admit that I am kind of ticked off about it. I will tell you this, though. The best way to handle somebody's outburst when they insult you is to simply take a deep breath and ignore it. That's what they taught me in my anger management class."

"I guess that class is doing wonders for you. Thank you for paying attention."

"You're welcome. And don't forget what I said."

"They'll forgive each other soon. Just give them some time. Got it, Manny. I'm gonna go check on Shira to see how she's holding up."

"Don't tell her I said this, but she looks like she's about to pop."

Ellie chuckled. "You're not the only one that has those thoughts." She walked over to the female saber, who was asleep on a soft padding of straw. Her father was lying next to her, stroking her head. Ellie smiled down at Alejandro. "How's she doing?"

"She seems to be doing fine," Alejandro said, "Once you laid her down on the ground, she slept in a wink."

Ellie had a thought come up in her head. She found out that it's been a couple of hours since Shira had eaten anything. "Alejandro, has Shira felt like eating anything since we got here?"

"No, she told me she wasn't hungry."

"I think that's a sign."

"A sign for what?"

"It won't be too long before she finally pops. If I were you, I'd let Diego know so he can keep an eye on her."

"Agreed."

Meanwhile, over with the sloths, Sid and Brooke were having a chat about the earlier incident that happened that day.

"I'm so sorry I never told you about Marty, Sid," Brooke said, "I can assure you that he and I were never a thing and that the two of us have never even been seen together alone unless we were in a crowded room. I've pretty much hated his guts throughout the whole time I knew him. I hope you're not mad."

"Oh, Brooke, I could never be mad at you," Sid said, "I believe you when you say that you hate him. He looks like an idiot, anyway."

"And acts like one. He pretty much knows how to get his way."

"Well, I'm glad we could talk about this."

Brooke took a deep breath. She knew that the best time to tell Sid was now or never. "Sid, I need to tell you something. Do you remember when-"

Brooke was cut off by Buck. "Alright, everyone. No need to rush, but I think it's time we get some shut eye."

"But what about dinner?" Manny asked.

"Here you go." Buck threw a bunch of fruit in Manny's direction. "Now hurry up and eat so we can all get some sleep."

"Buck, what is going on with you?" Ellie asked.

Buck sighed. "I'm sorry, mammals. I hate to say this, but I believe our best option is to gather a bunch of food, find a boat big enough to fit all of us and search for another island."

"Wait a second," Cheril said, "Are you telling us that our only option is to give up?"

"That is our only option," Elphina said, "Even the Elders have told me so. There is no way to stop the storm. Once somebody has cursed the storm to happen, it is unstoppable. It will hit this island and cause it to flood until only the top of the mountain is showing from underwater."

"This is crazy," Eddie said.

"We're already having to deal with a bunch of mammals that want us dead," Crash said.

"What more does this world want from us?"

"Why do we have to be under such mayhem?"

"When is it supposed to happen, anyway?" Kai asked.

"In exactly two days, according to the Elders," Elphina said.

"Is there a reason why we still have to listen to the Elders?" Scarfy asked, "Don't they pretty much hate us by now?"

"Okay, look at it this way, guys," Cheril said, "Maybe there is a way to stop this storm. The Elders know there is, but they want us to figure it out ourselves. Why don't we all just think this through? We have two days, so there's plenty of time."

"Didn't you just hear what Elphina said?" Kai asked, "There is no way to stop the storm from happening."

"I'm just trying to look on the bright side of things."

"Okay, enough," Roshan said, "Cheril's right. There may be a way to stop this storm. You know how the Elders are. They want us to think for ourselves. They want us to figure out how to stop the catastrophe before it happens."

"Why is it that you stand up for Cheril and not me?" Kai asked.

"I'll be honest with you, Kai. You're not the greatest when it comes to making decisions or theories for that matter."

"Well, I guess that is true. Nobody likes hearing my opinions."

"Well, that's the only thing I can think of," Cheril said, yawning, "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, everyone."

"Goodnight," Roshan said.

"Goodnight, animals of all kinds," Buck said, "Sleep tight while I keep watch."

Soon the herd had fallen asleep, resting peacefully through the night. Except for one person.

Roshan began tossing and turning in his sleeping cot, trying his best to sleep but kept opening his eyes. It was no use. He wasn't tired. Sleep just wouldn't come for him. He sat up, looking around to see everyone sleeping soundly. He was never sure how Kai was so comfortable sleeping in the trees, but he didn't have time to think about all that. He was having problems of his own. Standing up, he took one last look around before noticing that Cheril's sleeping cot was empty. He started wondering where she went and started making his way towards the small lake. He stopped when he hears shuffling from behind him. He looked up to see that it was Diego, staring at him as he was wide awake. Roshan smiled. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"That's okay," Diego said, "I wasn't even asleep, anyway. You know how males are when they're protective of their wife. I heard from Ellie that the cubs will be coming pretty soon. I need to be ready."

"I understand. Say, you wouldn't happen to know where Cheril walked off to, did you?"

"She went past those trees over there that go toward the lake." Diego pointed past some trees just a few feet away.

"Thanks." Roshan nodded his head and made his way over to the lake.

He walked over to the lake, looking at his reflection in the water. He sat down, placing his hand in the water and rotating it around. He thought that a vision of his father would show up, but it didn't. And he knew that it never will.

He looked out to see Cheril standing next to a wall frozen with ice. He had no idea what she could be seeing in there. A reflection of someone from her past was his theory. He didn't know much about her life before she became part of the tribe. She just became a part of her life when they were kids. If anything, the two would've been paired up by his father and Elphina. After all, arranged marriages were liable to happen.

Roshan actually smiled at that fact. If someone were to place him in an arranged marriage with anybody, he hoped that it would be Cheril who was a part of his life. After all, she was the only girl that understood him. The only girl that cared about him like nobody else did.

He stood up, looking at her from afar. The sky sprinkled snow upon the land they were standing on. Looking up, he began to sing a tune.

 **Roshan** : _As the cold wind passes through_

 _The weather is harsh during the night_

 _The snow clashes to the blanketed ground_

 _As the stars and moon are the only source of light_

 _My hopes and dreams have vanished_

 _All I loved once has disappeared_

 _But once you entered my view_

 _My feelings reappeared_

( **Chorus** )

 _When a cold night lasts forever_

 _On a cold night, we're together_

 _As the moonlight shines thick and through_

 _That's when I know that I'm with you_

Over at the other side of the lake, Cheril looked through the mirrored image of herself. She saw herself as a little girl and saw the saber next to her that saved her life and brought her to the tribe. To the place where she could call home. To a place where she could start a family. To a place where she met Roshan.

She looked over at the other side of the lake and saw Roshan looking out at the horizon. She smiled. Some days, she didn't really understand why she was a part of the world. She felt as though people had shunned her away. That nobody didn't want her around.

There was one person that did. Roshan. She felt as though she were brought here to bring him happiness. To be a part of his life. If anything, that was the best reason to be part of the world. Seeing the snow falling, she began singing.

 **Cheril** : _Since the day I entered this world_

 _I knew I would never belong_

 _I had doubts and fears about life_

 _How have I survived for so long?_

 _I never believed in emotions_

 _I thought they were beliefs from the sky_

 _Now here I am in your view_

 _A different world with a good guy_

( **Chorus** )

 _When a cold night last forever_

 _On a cold night, we're together_

 _As the moonlight shines thick and through_

 _That's when I know that I'm with you_

The two finally see each other and walked through the lake, which was only ankle deep. Smiling and looking into each other's eyes, they placed their hands in one another's as they sang together.

 **Roshan and Cheril:** _When a cold night last forever_

 _On a cold night, we're together_

 _As the moonlight shines thick and through_

 _That's when I know that I'm with you_

 **Roshan** : _When a cold night last forever_

 **Cheril** : _On a cold night, we're together_

 **Roshan and Cheril:** _As the moonlight shines thick and through_

 _That's when I know that I'm with you_

 **Roshan** : _When a cold night_

 **Cheril** : _On a cold night_

 **Roshan and Cheril** : _That's when I know that I'm with you_

The two embraced each other before suddenly looking into each other's eyes. Knowing that it was real, that their feelings for each other was bigger than the world they were placed on, they finally revealed their feelings by placing their lips together, kissing under the moonlight on a cold night. They smiled, knowing that they were finally happy that one knew the truth about the other. They were in love.

 **SWITCHBACK COVE FOREST. A SMALL CAVE CLOSE TO A LARGE MOUNTAIN.**

 **TIME: NIGHTFALL.**

Inside a mountain in a small cave, the Mammal Gang were sitting around a fire that Ansiso made for them. They all sat there, trying to figure out what to do. Their plan didn't work and failed automatically. Now another plan would have to be made before the storm hit or they would never get their revenge on the mammals who had ruined everything for them in their lives.

Marty gasped. "I have an idea. What if we set a trap and once we tell them off, we throw them over a cliff, killing them on impact?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Chippy said, chuckling like an idiot.

"Everything sounds like a good plan to you, Chippy," Randolph said, "That doesn't sound like a good plan at all. I want them to be tortured before I watch them die."

"That is true," Ansiso said, "I'd like to see the same thing. We need to think of something else."

"I think I have an idea," Soto said, "What if we make sure they don't stop the storm?"

"What are you getting at?" Ansiso sat up straighter.

"Before they even make it to where the eye of the storm is, we destroy the only way to stop it. At that point, we can distract them and make sure they don't try to escape from the island."

"So you suggest that we keep following them?" Marty asked.

"Exactly," Soto said.

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard."

"I support it well," Ansiso said.

"I'll stick with whatever plans you stick with," Chippy said.

"That's actually a pretty good plan, Soto," Randolph said.

"I'm glad you think so," Soto said.

"It's settled," Ansiso said, "We shall continue following the herd until we make our way to the end of the line." He chuckled. "For them."

They all started laughing. A plan was made. They know that nothing could go wrong with something so thought out sounded brilliant.

* * *

 **HEY, GUYS. IT'S ME BRINGING YOU ANOTHER AWESOME CHAPTER.**

 **NOTE: THE SONG ABOVE BELONGS TO ME. I WROTE THE SONG. LET ME KNOW IF YOU LIKE IT.**

 **ALSO, I HAVE A POLL ON MY PROFILE FOR THE 25TH EPISODE OF ICE AGE NEW LIFE. WHAT SHOULD THAT EPISODE BE ABOUT SINCE IT WILL BE CELEBRATING 25 EPISODES. I KNOW I'M PLANNING AHEAD, BUT THAT'S WHAT I DO.**

 **WELL, UNTIL THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	12. Plans and New Members

Ice Age 6 Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

PLANS AND NEW MEMBERS

 **SWITCHBACK COVE FOREST. INSIDE THE WOODS.**

 **TIME: ALMOST MIDNIGHT.**

Sitting near the now frozen lake under the shining moonlight were Cheril and Roshan. The teenage boy had his arm around Cheril's shoulders as the young human girl snuggled close to him. The snow continued falling and they knew it would be a frigid night, but living in a frozen world had its advantages. Since they had fur coats, nothing could freeze them and they even had warm hearts to keep the cold out. At that moment, all was well and there was nothing to bother them.

Cheril sighed, placing her head on Roshan's chest. "I can't sleep at all. I've been too worried about the future."

Roshan sighed, holding Cheril tighter. "You're not the only one that has those thoughts. I'm a lot more concerned about the past, though."

"About what?"

"About my father. What if it is my fault?"

"What are you talking about? The loss of your father is not your fault."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not. When are you gonna start listening to somebody else and understand what is your fault and what isn't?"

Roshan released Cheril and stood up. He walked over to the frozen lake. The ice was still thin enough to punch a hole in. That's exactly what Roshan did as he slammed his fist through the ice and used his hands to splash a bunch of cold water on his face. Breathing deeply, be looked at his hand and saw a bunch of cuts. He did his best to hide them as Cheril walked over to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. He sighed. "How can I not say it was my fault?"

"Because it wasn't," Cheril said.

"You don't understand."

"I do understand."

"Do you not remember the argument I had with my father? I pushed him down and almost hurt him. What kind of a son would do that to his own father? That was one of our last moments. Our last moment. This was something I was not expecting. I wasn't expecting to lose him like this. Our last moment was the worst moment of my life."

"True, but you both did have other great memories together. I'm sure he was a lot better than Kai's father was."

"But a last moment with someone you care for the most is everything."

"Roshan, I lost a lot of people I knew years ago and I didn't have any last moment memories with any of them. What happened to people I once knew was unexpected. I didn't have time to think about that. All I could do was run."

"He was killed. On my birthday. The day where I turned to the age in becoming a man. I haven't fully became a man, though."

"Killing a mammoths does not prove your manhood. What proves your manhood is the moment when you start acting like a man. Right now, you're acting like a little kid. I'm sorry I have to be rude, but things are different now. You have to learn to let go of the past so you can have a future. I know the past wasn't that long ago, but you get what I'm saying. Remember the moments you had with him that were special. Not the ones that you think should be special."

Roshan knew that what he said made him sound dumb. He sighed, walking over to Cheril and kissing her forehead. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Just don't freak out like that again. I know it's hard to accept the fact that your father is gone, but you're just grieving right now."

"I'm not grieving."

"Yes, you are. I know it's not showing on the outside, but on the inside the tears are shedding from your heart. You care about him as much as your mother cared about the both of you. I know you don't remember her, but at least she and your father are together again. Isn't that something to be happy about?"

"Of course it is." Roshan looked out at the horizon. "I know one day I'll be with the both of them again."

"Let's hope that's not for a long, long time. You still have a lot of years ahead of you." Cheril walked over to give Roshan a hug.

"I do, don't I?" Roshan hugged back, holding Cheril tight. "So what do you think of us as now? Are we still best friends?"

"I think we're more than that. Just a little bit. I've always had feelings for you, Roshan. I just never thought it would come down to this."

"What are you talking about?"

"A storm is on its way to take everything we know and love away from us."

"Hasn't it already done that?"

"Well, yeah, but it's getting stronger by the minute. Everything that's happening now has come down to this."

"We'll figure something out, Cheril. We can't lose hope. Like you said before. There a way to stop this storm. We just have to figure out what."

"Let's see." Cheril looked up at the sky. "Where did Buck say exactly where the storm was happening again?"

"How should I know? He never told us."

"I think I recall him saying something about a geyser."

"You mean the geyser shooting up red and purple clouds everywhere?" A voice from up in the trees was heard from above them. The two humans looked to see that it was Buck smiling down at them. "That's exactly what it is. The question is this. How do you eliminate clouds from shooting up into the sky?"

"Probably the same way you eliminate them in the sky?" Roshan asked, "How should we know? We don't know how it happened. We just think it's bad juju."

"Well, I believe it's time to meet some friends of mine." Buck placed his finger on top of Roshan and Cheril's heads and sent them inside his mind.

This frightened Cheril as she held onto Roshan. "Uh, Buck, where did you send us to?"

"You are in my brain," Buck said, walking over to them.

"Dude, it's freezing in here," Roshan said.

"It's probably cold because he's got an empty mind," Cheril said.

They both heard someone clearing their throat. Standing next to them all was none other than Neil de Buck weasel. "Hello there. I believe we have an educational theory to predict will happen."

"What the heck is he talking about?" Roshan asked.

"Who is he, anyway?" Cheril asked.

"That there is the famous astrophysicist Neil de Buck weasel," Buck said, "He knows the clouds."

"So how do we get rid of them?" Roshan asked.

"Well, according to scientific research, the best way to eliminate clouds from the atmosphere, including rain clouds, are a light source called lasers," Neil de Buck said, "Although they do not exist in your time period, we can use other strong forces of light to disperse the rain clouds from the sky, thus saving the world."

"Okay so what should we use instead?"

"Allow me to explain that," said Pythagoras Buck, roaming in with his toga on.

"Oh, Pythagoras Buck," Buck said, "He knows everything about your time period."

"What if we use shiny objects to shine into the sky? That way, the rain clouds will float apart from each other long enough for the Sun to arrive and finish the job."

"May I state the conclusion?" said robotic Buck, rolling into the room.

"I think each weasel in Buck's head is from every time period," Cheril said.

"You think?" Roshan asked.

"In conclusion, if we can use both direct light from the Earth and the Sun, it will throw the storm off course," Robotic Buck said.

"And this is how we will stop the storm," Neil de Buck said as a crowd of Roman weasels applauded him for his magnificent theory.

Soon they were all out of the depths of Buck's head. Cheril gave the weasel a stern look. "First of all, don't ever do that again when I'm around."

"Second of all, I believe we have found our solution, right?" Roshan asked Buck.

"Right you are, human boy," Buck said, "The only way to eliminate powerful darkness is by using a powerful source of light."

"So what all creates light?" Cheril asked.

"Well, there's fire," Roshan said.

"That's a start," Buck said, "Just think of everything you know that can create a powerful source of light. We need as much as we can get our hands on. Can I count on you both to help save the island?"

Roshan and Cheril looked at each other for a moment and nodded at Buck. Roshan shook his paw. "You can count on us, Buck."

"Excellent. You have until tomorrow morning to give me a list. Time is of the essence."

"Don't we know it," Cheril said.

"Guys!" Ellie shouted, running towards the two humans and Buck by the lake. She stopped to catch her breath. "Thank goodness I found you two."

"Ellie, what is it?" Cheril walked up to the female mammoth.

"It's Shira. She's about to have the cubs."

"Uh, oh."

"In the middle of a natural catastrophe?" Buck shouted, "They can't be coming now!"

"Buck, childbirth is not easy," Ellie said, "We need to help her now."

Cheril nodded her head. "Okay. You head back and help the others. I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay, see you then." With that, Ellie ran back to the cave with the rest of the herd.

Cheril placed her attention on Roshan. "Keep the guys calm. I shouldn't be long."

"Do what you gotta do," Roshan said, kissing her on the forehead, "Make sure to help Elphina."

"I will." Cheril started running to the cave.

Roshan sighed. "Let's go, Buck."

"You really like her, don't you?" Buck asked.

"Well, it finally took a cold night to show the both of us how we felt with one another."

"Well, it is cold."

Roshan chuckled. "Come on, Buck. The other guys are waiting."

It was only the middle of the night. The guys were still awake, waiting for the girls and Diego to give the news as to how Shira was doing and how many cubs she had. Well, the possum twins and Kai were still sound asleep. Buck was sitting up in the tree, carving something from wood. Manny was keeping a lookout in case the Mammal Gang were sitting around, waiting to ambush them. Sid was sitting against a tree eating berries. Alejandro was pacing back and forth with worry. No surprise there. His daughter was literally giving birth for crying out loud. The dino birds were sitting in the tree. Gertie and Roger were asleep while Gavin was waiting for someone to come out of the cave to tell them the cubs had been born. Julian was sitting next to Roshan while the young boy was sitting there, thinking about what happened just a half hour ago between him and Cheril.

Julian knew something was bothering him. He scooched over a bit closer. "Is everything okay?"

"What?" Roshan asked, looking up at the young mammoth.

"Well, you're just sitting there lost in thought. I figured you had something on your mind."

Roshan sighed. "Julian, how did you meet Peaches?"

"It was kind of weird, actually. I was just wandering through the peach tree fields and I was just about to take a peach off the tree. I felt another trunk on mine and looked to see Peaches. Gosh, in my mind, I was thinking this exact thought- what a beautiful mammoth she is. We kind of got to rambling on with each other about her taking the peach because I insisted that she take it, but she insisted that I take it and we spent like a whole minute doing that. Then we just smiled and took half of it. It was awesome, but not as awesome as Peaches was."

"What happened after that?"

"We parted ways and went to do everyday normal things. We saw each other three weeks later at a fruit stand and get this. We were right next to the peaches and was trying to grab the same peach."

"Well, that's strange."

"I know. So then we got to talking and we ended up getting to know each other a lot more than we thought in just two hours. Then I finally asked her if she wanted to hang out Friday night and she said yes. We hung out as friends for a while before we became an item. And the next thing you know, she became my beautiful wife."

"Well, have you ever had the feeling that you like this girl and she likes you back but you're just not sure whether or not you should be together?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I like Cheril and I know she likes me back. Just a couple of hours ago, we kissed over by the lake. Our first kiss. Do you think that we shouldn't be together even if we like each other? I say that because this storm is about to hit and I don't wanna rush into a relationship that won't even last long since this storm may cause mayhem. If we don't end it, then there won't be a future."

"Hey, don't talk like that. We're gonna end this and we'll all have a future. Besides, this may be your only chance to show Cheril how you truly feel about her. Sometimes great moments can be your last."

Roshan smiled at Julian. He then frowned. "Do you still think we should be together? Even if this storm is about to hit?"

"Of course. If you love her, then you need to be with her."

Roshan nodded. "Thanks. Say, how come you're nice to me but you're not nice to Kai?"

Julian sighed. "I don't know. I really do need to talk to him, though. If a simple apology would do, I would give him one in a heartbeat."

"I know you would. Maybe you might be able to talk to him tomorrow."

"I hope so." Deep down inside, Julian felt horrible for what he said to Kai and really did want to make it up to him. He just had to figure out how.

Meanwhile, Alejandro continued pacing around, worry growing into him as he could imagine how much pain his daughter was in. Manny was starting to get annoyed with his constant pacing. "Alejandro, you need to stop going back and forth. It's driving me crazy."

"I can't help it," Alejandro said, "My daughter is in there giving birth. The least I should do is be in there with her and at least do something to help."

"She has Diego in there helping her. Don't you trust him?"

"Of course I trust him. I have since the moment I met him. It's just that I haven't seen my daughter in years and throughout that whole time, I feel like she left me because she always thought I was a bad father."

"Well, did you do anything to make her think that?"

Alejandro sighed. "Years ago, I lost my wife to humans. Shira was pretty much all I had. I knew I had a purpose to move on and had the greatest responsibility of them all. To protect, care for and love my daughter. I taught her everything she needed to know about being a saber. She was always a fast learner. We spent a lot of time together when she was younger. As time passed by, she was a grown teenage saber and you know how feisty teenage girls can get. Shira had met some new saber friends that she wanted to hang out with and when I met them, they were all prissy and spoiled brats. No way was I gonna let my daughter hang around those types of felines. I even told her that, but then we ended up getting into an argument. Then it went to where she told me that I never get to let her do anything she wants and I told her that I'm just being a father and was trying to protect her. She said she hated me and wished that I wasn't her father and that's when these two sabers from another pack came and tried to attack us so they could take my little girl away. I told Shira to run and that was the last time I ever saw her. I took care of those sabers, but my main priority was getting my daughter back. I searched for so long, but she was nowhere to be found. Years later, I met Diego. We were both hunting the same gazelle. We talked for awhile and I found out that he was my daughter's husband. Not that I knew she was married or anything. I told him I wanted to see her, and he said that I should make a surprise entrance to see her at her baby shower. I told him that I would do it and that was how we reunited."

"So what brought back up that worry?"

"I haven't been able to talk to her about what happened. I feel guilty about the past and want to make up for it. Also, I feel like she still hates me. What if my grandchildren hate me?"

"Don't talk like that. I'm sure Shira still loves you. Don't worry. Your grandchildren will love you."

"I hope you're right." Alejandro sighed and sat down, trying to calm his nerves.

A half hour later, Ellie and Brooke walked outside, looking at all the boys. The two teenage dino birds woke up as well as Kai and the possum twins. They all walked up to the girls. Alejandro was the first to speak. "Well, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Alejandro," Ellie said, "Shira's okay and so are your new grandchildren."

"Congratulations!" Brooke exclaimed, "You are now a grandfather to three beautiful cubs. Two boys and a beautiful girl."

"Can we see them?" Manny asked.

"You sure can," Ellie said as she and Brooke led the boys inside the cave.

Everyone was now inside to see Diego and Shira with three little bundles of joy with them. One of the boys looked just like his father, lying there and sleeping like a cute furry pumpkin. The other boy was orange as well, but had orange stripes on his back. He looked mostly like a tiger, except he had small little fangs. The baby girl cub looked a lot like her mother, but in the most cutest way possible. The two parents smiled at their children. They couldn't have been happier.

"They're perfect in every way," Shira said, "I wouldn't replace these little cubs with any other babies."

"The best little litter I've ever seen," Diego said, "I can't believe it. We're finally parents. We've started our own little family."

"They are too adorable," Peaches said, "I can't resist their cuteness." She placed her head against Julian's, who was happy to be feeling some sort of affection from her.

Ellie smiled. "Congratulations, you two."

"I'll be honest," Elphina said, "I've never assisted a female saber in childbirth before, but it's not as different as a human enduring through it. Looks like you got that homebirth you've been wanting, Shira."

"It didn't really feel like one to me," Shira said, "It just felt like a normal birth with the people I love surrounding me."

Alejandro walked up to take a look at his new grandchildren. "Shira, I may have been a terrible father, but I promise that I will be a much better grandfather."

"What do you mean you were a terrible father?"

"After what happened when you had to run so I could protect you from those sabers. I figured what appended before that, you said that you hated me."

"Daddy, that was all in the past. I will admit that I regret everything I said. I'm sorry for what happened then. I was just being a spoiled brat. I just wanna know if you'll forgive me."

"Of course I forgive you. Do you forgive me?"

Shira giggled. "Of course, Daddy." The two shared a loving father daughter embrace.

Once they came apart, Alejandro looked at his grandchildren. "So what are you gonna name these little guys?"

"Well, this little guy looks a lot like Diego, so I was thinking that we should name him after his father."

"I love that," Diego said, "Diego Jr. It has a nice ring to it. We'll call him Junior, though. Just to tell me and him apart."

"Sounds good to me," Shira said, "What about our other son?"

"Well, he's a mixture of you and me. He's got stripes on his back and he's got my fur color. I think we should call him Stripes."

"That name suits him well."

Diego stared at his wife. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"What do you think we should name our pretty little flower?"

"Oh. Well, when you say flower, it makes me think of the snow belles that bloom when the beginning of winter comes around. And she's as pretty as snow. And she's beautiful. Her name will be Snow Belle."

"I love it."

"Congratulations, you two," Ellie said.

"Well, it seems my work here is done," Elpina said, "I believe we all need to get some sleep while we still can. I need to talk to the Elders."

"Come on, everyone," Manny said, "Let's give the sabers some space."

While Diego and Shira went ahead and got ready for bed, he looked over at Diego one last time before exiting the cave. He looked over at Sid and Manny. His memories never lie. He knew the three males well enough to see that they were the ones that rescued him in the past. If only he could show them that they are.

* * *

 **SORRY IT TOOK FOREVER TO UPDATE, BUT I'M BACK. WELL, THE CUBS HAVE BEEN BORN. HOORAY!**

 **AS OF NOVEMBER 12th, I HAVE BEEN ON FANFICTION FOR THREE YEARS. YEP. I'VE BEEN AT THIS FOR THAT LONG.**

 **ALSO, TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY. AWESOME! I DECIDED TO HELP MYSELF BY POSTING A NEW CHAPTER FOR THIS STORY.**

 **HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


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